Inshore lizardfish (Synodus foetens) is a saltwater, brackish species recorded in the United States. It is mainly found over reef, at depths of 0–200 m.
Scientific name: Synodus foetens · Water: Saltwater, Brackish
Size: up to 53.8 cm
The inshore lizardfish is a synodontid whose adults are found on both shallow and deep sand flats among grass, inshore in saltwater creeks, rivers, bays, sounds and deep channels within lagoons, and also in the open ocean over the continental shelf; it is probably denser over mud than over shell or calcareous bottom. It is a solitary voracious predator that lurks in shallow bays and shore waters and burrows in bottom sediments, feeding mostly on fishes and also on shrimps, crabs and cephalopods. It is oviparous, and newly hatched larvae are found near the surface at depths of 27 to 46 m; its salinity range is 4.0 to 60.0 parts per thousand. It is recorded from the surface down to 200 m, and it also enters brackish water. Its range is the western Atlantic, from Massachusetts and the northern Gulf of Mexico to Brazil. Maximum length is about 53.8 cm total length, commonly about 30 cm, and it matures at about 19 cm. It is taken in subsistence fisheries and is a gamefish, with a medium price category. Fishing vulnerability is moderate at 35 of 100 and resilience medium. IUCN lists it as least concern.
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