The Atlantic silverside (''Menidia menidia''), also known as spearing in the northeastern United States, is a small species of fish from the West Atlantic, ranging from the

Gulf of St. Lawrence The Gulf of St. Lawrence () is the outlet of the North American Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean. The gulf is a semi-enclosed sea, covering an area of about and containing about of water, at an average depth of . ...

in Canada to northeastern Florida in the USA. It is one of the most common fish in the Chesapeake Bay and in the Barnegat Bay. It is a common subject of scientific research because of its sensitivity to environmental changes. The fish is about long, mostly silver and white. It eats smaller (biotic) animals and plants – small crustaceans, algae,

annelid The annelids (Annelida , from Latin ', "little ring"), also known as the segmented worms, are a large phylum, with over 22,000 extant species including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to various ecol ...

worms,

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

, zooplankton,

copepod Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthos, benthic (living on the ocean floor) ...

amphipod Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far descr ...

squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting t ...

, and insects. The Atlantic silverside's predators are larger predatory fish –

striped bass The striped bass (''Morone saxatilis''), also called the Atlantic striped bass, striper, linesider, rock, or rockfish, is an anadromous perciform fish of the family Moronidae found primarily along the Atlantic coast of North America. It has al ...

, blue fish, Atlantic mackerel – and many water birds, including egrets, terns, cormorants, and gulls. The abiotic factors the Atlantic silverside needs to survive varies for populations of fish based on their geographical location. A rule of thumb for the species includes an average temperature of , a salt content of the water ranging from 0 to 37ppt (Tagatz and Dudley 1961), and a well-mixed body of water to prevent hypoxic conditions. The Atlantic silverside's habitat is generally near the water's edge. They are mostly found swimming in brackish waters, such as in the mouths of rivers and streams that connect to the ocean. These small schooling fish have been seen to gather in seagrass beds, which can harbor the nearly defenseless fish some form of shelter from predation as well as provide safe haven for spawning. During winter, most Atlantic silversides swim in deeper water to avoid cold/low temperature. During the summer, most are found in the shallows along the shoreline. The Atlantic silverside's defense is to hide in seagrass beds. They are also quick swimmers and their coloration of silver and a little white makes it confusing to predators to determine the direction the fish are heading. The silverside's strongest form of defense is the strength-in-numbers strategy, where fish will school in large numbers to diminish their chances of being the one picked off by a predator.

References

* Tagatz, M. E., and D. L. Dudley. 1961. Seasonal occurrence of marine fishes in four shore habitats near Beaufort, North Carolina, 1957-1960. U. S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Spec. Sci. Rep. Fish. 390. 19 pp.

External links

Life Histories and Environmental Requirements of Coastal Fishes and Invertebrates (Mid-Atlantic): Atlantic Silverside

Inland Silverside, ''Menidia beryllina'', Photo and Information at MBL Aquaculture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atlantic Silverside Atherinopsidae Fish described in 1766 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus