Hitchhikers & Blowhards

Sharksucker
Remora
Southern Puffer
Scrawled Cowfish
Smooth Puffer
Bighead Searobin

All the fish lumped in this chapter are oddities of one sort or another. Remoras are strange fish with sucker disks on top of their heads, an arrangement which allows them to glue themselves to larger hosts and ride along in hopes of dining on leftovers when the big boys feed. They swim freely as well and can hunt up their own food when necessary. Some are host-specific, meaning they stick to a particular type of bigfish.

Back To The Fish Species Directory Index

Fish Species brought to you in association with Wickstrom Publishers Inc.
Excerpts from the book Sport Fish of Florida a must for every tackle box and boat in and around Florida waters!!! Get your copy now!! Other great titles include Baits, Rigs & Tackle!

OTHER NAMES: Remora
RANGE: All Florida coasts, the Bahamas and the Caribbean Islands.
HABITAT: Free-roaming; offshore and inshore.
DESCRIPTION: Color ranges from near black to gray, but always with a vivid white-bordered dark stripe the length of the side. In the water, this can cause a Sharksucker to be mistaken for a small Cobia.
SIZE: Usually 1 foot or less, but can exceed 3 feet. World record 5 pounds, 1 ounce.
FOOD VALUE: Not generally eaten.
GAME QUALITIES: Fights pretty well for its size, but has been known to cheat by grabbing at angler's bait, then quickly sticking itself to a much larger fish and letting the host wage the battle. Usually it comes loose, leaving the puzzled angler trying to figure out how a fish so small could pull like a submarine.
TACKLE AND BAITS: Not targeted. Caught on all sorts of gear and any kind of natural bait it can swallow.
FISHING SYSTEMS: Drifting; Still Fishing.

OTHER NAMES: Sharksucker
RANGE: Florida, the Bahamas and the Caribbean.
HABITAT: Free-roaming; usually offshore.
DESCRIPTION: Solid gray or charcoal all over; lacks the stripe of the preceding fish. Also rounder in shape and usually smaller. Caught far less often by anglers.
SIZE: From several inches to a couple of feet.
FOOD VALUE: Nil.
GAME QUALITIES: Fights pretty well for its size, but has been known to cheat by grabbing at angler's bait, then quickly sticking itself to a much larger fish and letting the host wage the battle. Usually it comes loose, leaving the puzzled angler trying to figure out how a fish so small could pull like a submarine.
TACKLE AND BAITS: Not targeted. Caught on all sorts of gear and any kind of natural bait it can swallow.
FISHING SYSTEMS: Drifting; Still Fishing.

OTHER NAMES: Blowfish, Tambor
RANGE: Both of these as well as several less familiar types occur along all Florida coasts, and throughout the Bahamas and Caribbean.
HABITAT: The Puffers are widely at home in many shallow, coastal habitats.
DESCRIPTION: Floridians may call any of several species of Puffers a Blowfish or Toadfish, but the three most commonly caught are the Southern Puffer, shown here, which wears circular markings, the Checkered Puffer, Sphoeroides testudineus, whose marks are leopard-like, and the Bandtail Puffer, Sphoeroides spengleri, which is just as its name states. All are mottled yellow or brown, approximately the same size, and have large, powerful clipping teeth that can nip a chunk out of a careless angler. Their bellies are rough when inflated. Two other puffer cousins, the Striped Burrfish, Chilomycterus schoepfi, and the Porcupinefish, Diodon hystrix, are adorned with sharp spikes.
SIZE: Averages less than a foot.
FOOD VALUE: The meat is delicious. Unfortunately, however, the entrails and skin contain a poison that has caused numerous fatalities with fish not properly cleaned. Skip them.
GAME QUALITIES: Not much.
TACKLE AND BAITS: As long-suffering inshore anglers know, Blowfish will hit many kinds of lures, generally ruining those made of plastic or hair. They will take any sort of natural bait as well, and the few people who go after them for food use small hooks baited with dabs of shrimp, squid or cut fish. No sport on any tackle.
FISHING SYSTEMS: Casting; Drifting; Still Fishing.

OTHER NAMES: RANGE: HABITAT: DESCRIPTION: SIZE: FOOD VALUE: GAME QUALITIES: TACKLE AND BAITS: FISHING SYSTEMS:

OTHER NAMES: Silver Puffer, Tambor
RANGE: All Florida coasts, but seen more on the Atlantic side; also the Bahamas and Caribbean.
HABITAT: Basically an offshore fish that's caught by anglers only when it comes to the beaches, or into bays at unpredictable times.
DESCRIPTION: Gray above and silvery on sides and belly, with no markings. Skin is smooth except for rough belly. Rabbit-like appearance of the mouth and teeth.
SIZE: Much larger than most Blowfish, often weighing 2-3 pounds. World record 3 pounds, 4 ounces.
FOOD VALUE: Good meat, but can be deadly if improperly cleaned.
GAME QUALITIES: Large enough to put up a pretty good fight.
TACKLE AND BAITS: Any kind of outfit suitable for bottom fishing, the lighter the better. Dead shrimp or cut fish.
FISHING SYSTEMS:Still Fishing

RANGE: All Florida coasts, sometimes close to shore. In the Bahamas and Caribbean, the odd catch comes from deep water.
HABITAT: Prefers soft or muddy bottom.
DESCRIPTION: Several Searobin species might be seen, but only an odd one of any species turns up on the hooks of Florida anglers. All have hard, spiny and usually pointed heads, and get their name from the large and wing-like pectoral fins. The color is brown or tan, with darker blotches.
SIZE: Most are a foot or less.
FOOD VALUE: The fillets are quite good but difficult to collect, besides which, most people are turned off by the Searobin's grotesque appearance.
GAME QUALITIES: None.
TACKLE AND BAITS: Usually taken accidentally by bottom fishermen on small cut baits.
FISHING SYSTEMS: Drifting; Still Fishing.