Southern Fish Found In Chesapeake Bay

ANNAPOLIS, MD — While electrofishing for blue catfish in Hunting Creek, a tributary in the Patuxent River, Maryland Department of Natural Resources workers stumbled across an odd fish cruising along in the Chesapeake watershed. Maryland DNR biologist Tim Groves identified it as a striped mullet and while it is a coastal fish, it isn't commonly found in the Chesapeake watershed but rather down South.

The DNR workers believed it was a striped bass at first glance, but after a closer examination, they determined it wasn't because it had a "distinctive grass carp-like mouth."

According to the Maryland DNR, the striped mullet is considered to be Catadromous, meaning the adult spends a considerable amount of time in freshwater and spawns in the ocean.