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MARINE AND ESTUARINE FISH

P.A. Gainey

There are approximately 325 species of marine and estuarine fish to be found around the British coastline. Gainey, in Spalding, A. (Ed.) 1997, has reviewed the marine and estuarine fish that occur around the Cornish coastline and the Isles of Scilly. In excess of 200 species have been recorded for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The geographical position of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, projecting south-west out into the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean, together with its extremely long coastline and numerous estuaries, containing a wide diversity of habitats, has ensured that the region has a large number of fish species. Its southern position, together with warming by the North Atlantic Drift, and possibly the Lusitanian Current (Slope and Shelf Edge currents), results in relatively warm waters which can support many more southerly, Lusitanian/Mediterranean, species. The Luisitanian Current may also be responsible for carrying the larval forms of many fish and marine invertebrates to these waters. Conversely Cornwall also represents the most southern extreme reached by various northern/boreal species. The Cornish coastline is also subject to visitations by a great variety of vagrant fish species. Besides the Lusitanian and Boreal vagrants there are also those deeper-water species from the Continental Shelf and slope areas and pelagic/oceanic species from the vastness of the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean. The vagrant species are dealt with in Section 4 of this account. The status of the various species in this account is based partly on Potts & Swaby (1991), on the author’s experience of the marine environment in the region and on the recent (2007) UK List of Priority Species. Useful reference works include The Plymouth Marine Fauna (M.B.A., 1957), The fishes of the British Isles and north-west Europe (Wheeler, 1969), The Key to the Fishes of Northern Europe (Wheeler, 1978), the Collins Pocket Guide to the Fish of Britain and Europe (Miller & Loates, 1997) and online Fishbase (Froese & Pauly, 2008 and 2009). The legal status of fish occurring in the UK was obtained from Guidelines for Baseline Ecological Assessment published by the Institute of Environmental Assessment (1995). The nomenclature is largely based on that published in Howson & Picton (1997), with the addition of more recent changes as indicated in the fish section of the European Register of Marine Species (van der Land et al., 2001). Thanks are due to S. Davis of the Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee and R. Hillman of the Environment Agency. The author is particularly grateful to D. Herdson, formerly of the National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth, for his very useful comments on the various species and for the provision of records for the region.

1. RESIDENT FISH

Alosa alosa Allis Shad

Alosa fallax Twaite Shad

Ammodytes marinus Raitt’s or Lesser Sand-eel

Arnoglossus thori Thor’s Scaldfish

Atherina boyeri Big-scale Sand Smelt

Blennius ocellaris Butterfly Blenny

Buenia jeffreysii Jeffreys’s Goby

Cepola macrophthalma Red Band-fish

Chirolophis ascanii Yarrell’s Blenny

Ciliata septentrionalis Northern Rockling

Coryphoblennius galerita Montagu’s Blenny

Gobius cobitis Giant Goby

Gobius couchi Couch’s Goby

Gobius gasteveni Steven’s Goby

Hippocampus guttulatus Spiny, Long-snouted or Maned Seahorse

Hippocampus hippocampus Short-snouted Seahorse

Lepadogaster candollii Connemara Clingfish

Liparis liparis Sea-snail

Pagrus pagrus Couch’s Seabream

Parablennius ruber Red or Portuguese Tompot Blenny

Pegusa lascaris Sand Sole

Petromyzon marinus Sea Lamprey

Sparus aurata Gilthead Bream

Squatina squatina Angel Shark

Squalus acanthias Spiny Dogfish or Spurdog

Tripterygion delaisi Black-faced Blenny or Delais’ Triplefin

Zeugopterus regius Eckström’s Topknot

2. MIGRATORY FISH

Fish categorised as Species of Conservation Concern (SoCC).

Acipenser sturio Common Sturgeon

Cetorhinus maximus Basking Shark

Dalatius licha Kitefin Shark or Darkie Charlie

Dipturus batis Common Skate

Galeorhinus galeus Tope Shark

Hippoglossus hippoglossus Atlantic Halibut

Isurus oxyrinchus Shortfin Mako

Lamna nasus Porbeagle Shark

Leucoraja circularis Sandy Ray

Micromesistius poutassou Blue Whiting

Prionace glauca Blue Shark

Raja undulata Undulate Ray

Rostroraja alba White or Bottle-nosed Skate

Salmo salar Atlantic Salmon

Salmo trutta Brown/Sea Trout

Thunnus thynnus Atlantic Blue-finTuna

3. Commercial Species on the 2007 UK List of Priority Species - Group Species Action Plans

These are common polices, actions and targets for similar species e.g. commercial fish. Very few, if any, of the marine fish species exploited commercially by UK fishermen are in imminent danger of biological extinction as they are found across wide geographical areas. Within these wide distributions, however, there are local stocks of fish subject to excessive exploitation and risk of collapse, even though the species itself is not in danger. Such a collapse would represent a reduction in the natural range of the species and effective action, to minimize this risk, is required under the UK BAP. For these reasons the Action Plan is aimed at particular stocks rather than the species as a whole. The stocks of immediate relevance are those for which the International Council for the Exploitation of the Seas (ICES) scientists’ assessment is that the species is below the Safe Biological Limit (SBL).

The fish stocks involved in the SBL assessment are those mentioned in the most recent (2007) UK List of Priority Species:

Clupea harengus Linnaeus Herring

Gadus morhua Linnaeus Cod

Lophius piscatorius Linnaeus Sea Monkfish or Angler

Merlangius merlangus (Linnaeus) Whiting

Merluccius merluccius (Linnaeus) European Hake

Molva molva (Linnaeus) Ling

Pleuronectes platessa Linnaeus Plaice

Scomber scombrus Linnaeus Mackerel

Solea solea (Linnaeus) Sole/Dover Sole

Trachurus trachurus (Linnaeus) Horse Mackerel/Scad

All of these species are present, often abundantly, in Cornish waters but may at any given time, move to, or fall below, the Safe Biological Limit (SBL). Up-to-date information on which of the various commercial stocks are at, near or below their SBL in the Western Channel and the Celtic Sea may be obtained from the ‘Fisheries Information’ section of the CEFAS website (www.cefas.co.uk).

4. Vagrant and Migrant Fish (Non SoCC Species)

4.1 Lusitanian (southern) species

Acantholabrus palloni Scale-rayed Wrasse

Argyrosomus regius Meagre

Auxis rochei Bullet Tuna

Auxis thazard Frigate Tuna

Belone svetovidovi Short-beaked Garfish

Boops boops Bogue

Brama brama Ray’s Bream

Caranx crysos Blue Runner

Cheilopogon heterurus Atlantic Flying Fish

Chelidonichthys lastoviza Streaked Gurnard