Ken Schultz's Field Guide to Saltwater Fish - Macaw Pets store

Primarily known as blackfish, the tautog is a member of the
Labridae family of wrasses, which includes some 500
species in 57 known genera, and is a popular inshore sportfish.
Identification. Blunt-nosed and thick-lipped, the tautog
has a high forehead and a heavy body. It is brownish on the
back and the sides and lighter below, and it has blackish
mottling over the entire body. The belly and the chin are
white or gray, and there may be spots on the chin. The
female develops a white saddle down the middle of each
side during spawning. The caudal fin is rounded on the
corners and squared across the tip; the soft-rayed dorsal
and the anal fins are rounded.
The first dorsal fin has 16 to 17 spines. The short second
dorsal fin consists of 10 somewhat longer soft rays. The
anal fin has 3 spines and 7 to 8 soft rays. There is a detached
area of small scales behind and beneath each eye but none
on the opercle. The lateral line is arched more or less following
the contour of the back and has a scale count of 69
to 73. There are 9 gill rakers on the first branchial arch, 3 on
the upper limb, and 6 on the lower limb. A number of small
teeth are present along the sides of the jaws, and there are
2 to 3 large canine teeth in the tips.
Size. This fish averages 3 pounds or less in weight. Specimens
weighing 6 to 10 pounds are caught with some regularity,
however, and the all-tackle world record is a New
Jersey fish that weighed 25 pounds.
Food and feeding habits. The diet of the tautog is mainly
mollusks and crustaceans, with blue mussels being especially
favored. It uses the flat, rounded, stout teeth located
in the rear of its mouth to crush the shells.
Tautog
Tautoga onitis
OTHER NAMES
blackfish, tog, Molly
George, chub, oysterfish;
French: tautogue noir.
Distribution. The tautog
occurs in the western
Atlantic from Nova Scotia to
South Carolina, and the
greatest abundance is
between Cape Cod, Massachusetts,
and Delaware Bay.
It overlaps in range with the
smaller and more northerly
relative the cunner.
Habitat. Tautog are
known to move in and out
of bays or inshore and offshore
according to the
water temperature, but they
do not make extensive
migrations up and down the
coast. Preferred environs
include shallow waters over
rocky bottoms, shell beds,
inshore wrecks, and the like,
which they often inhabit
year-round.
Tautog 243