Skilletfish, Gobiesox strumosus

Skilletfish, Gobiesox strumosus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Long Island, New York, August 2022. Length: 5.4 cm (2.0 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Aidan Perkins, Long Island, New York.

Skilletfish, Gobiesox strumosus. Fish caught from within the intercoastal waterway of Annapolis, Maryland, November 2021. Length: 7.8 cm (3.1 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Sebastian, Florida.

The Skilletfish, Gobiesox strumosus, is a member of the Clingfish or Gobiesocidae Family, and is known in Mexico as cazoleta. Globally, there are twenty-nine species in the genus Gobiesox, of which seven are found in Mexican waters, one in the Atlantic Ocean and five in the Pacific Ocean and one, this species, in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The Skilletfish has an elongated “tadpole” like body. They are a dark olive brown with three lines radiating down and forward from the front of the eyes, three lines that extend back from the upper rear of the eye. The head and body have dark reticulated mottling, lines and spots. The caudal base has a dark bar and some fish have a dark spot at the front of the anal and dorsal fins. They have six faint lines that radiate from the eyes and two widely separated patches of papillae in the central part of the sucking disc. Their head is broad, depressed head which has well developed papillae, a mouth with a broad top lip that is much wider at the front than at the sides that has conical teeth in a deep patch at the front and canine on the side of the top jaw. Their anal fin has no spines and 8 or 9 rays that is similar and immediately below the dorsal fin; their caudal fin has 10 to 12 rays and is rounded; their dorsal fin is found at the rear and has no spines and 10 to 12 rays; their pectoral fins have 22 to 26 rays and a large fleshy pad with a free rear edge at the base with a rear edge that extends to the upper level of the upper gill membrane attachment. The sucker is large with a broad band of 7 to 10 rows of papillae at the front, two widely spaced patches at the center, and three to five longitudinal at the rear. Their lateral line is limited to the head and composed of pores. They do not have scales.

The Skilletfish is a shallow-water solitary non-migratory species that are found at depths up to 33 m (35 feet) in both salt and brackish water within intertidal grassy and rocky areas and in oyster reefs and other shallow water structures utilizing its ventral adhesive disc for attachment. They reach a maximum of 8.0 cm (3.1 inches) in length. They feed primarily on small crustaceans, isopods, limpets and mollusks that they pry off the rocks. Reproduction is oviparous involves nest building by the males within rocks, the release of large amounts of eggs by the females which attach themselves under rocks are then fertilized by the males. The males guard the eggs. The Skilletfish is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

The Skilletfish is a resident of Mexican waters of both the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean. They are found in all Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean. In the Pacific Ocean they are found in coastal lagoons and tidal flats of Nayarit, Sinaloa and Sonora within the Sea of Cortez.

The Skilletfish is straightforward to identify due to its coloration and markings, thus cannot be confused with any other species found in Mexican waters.

From a conservation perspective the Skilletfish has not been formally evaluated but they should be considered to be of Least Concern with stable widely distributed populations. Their long-term viability is threatened by pollution, human coastal developments and the significant decline of oyster reefs in North America. They are too small to be of interest to most. They have been raised in captivity making their long-term survival guaranteed.