THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

But just in case, this species is almost identical fish to the blackfish Cenrolophus niger detailed above,
though with a narrower body profile, and most important of all, the dorsal fin starts a lot further forward,
pretty much in line with the outer edge of the gill cover and the base of the pectoral fin, whereas that of
C. niger starts at a point half way back along the pectoral fin. Colouration, though still very dark, tends
more towards greenish brown with some darker mottling.
BARRACUDINA Paralepis coregonoides
Bucket List status – no result yet
Like one or two of the weird and
wonderful inclusions here, the
Barracudina is a fish I had never even
heard of prior to drawing up this
species list, so your guess is as good as
mine. It sounds like it should be related to the barracudas. It even looks like it might be too, though it
isn't in any way related to them.
A long slender fish with a large mouth full of teeth, but whereas barracuda's have two dorsal fins, the
barracudina's have just the one, plus a tiny fleshy flap on the back just in front of the tail known as an
adipose fish, a feature very few fish other than Salmonids possess.
There are actually something of the order of fifty similar related species worldwide belonging to the
family paralepididae, so just in case, count the pectoral rays, which should number fourteen to sixteen,
and the anal fin rays, of which there should be twenty three to twenty five.
A silvery grey fish which can grow to around twenty inches, most commonly found leading a
bathypelagic life style in the upper water layers along the edge of the Atlantic continental shelf. Yet
amazingly, the catch that placed it on the bucket list came from Newton Shore at Ayr in Scotland.
BUTTERFISH Pholis gunnellus
Bucket List status – no result yet
Identification here should present no
problems at all. An extremely elongate
laterally compressed little fish with a
single long dorsal fin, shorter continuous
anal fin, and small tail.
A fish which when handled shows a
blatant refusal to keep still, continually
forcing itself into a letter `S' shape, that is
if you can keep hold of it for long enough,
hence the name butterfish.
It's tiny embedded scales have given it a
very smooth slippery feel, which coupled
to that refusal to keep still, also help make it a very difficult fish to collect as bait.
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