Lizardfish Made Trip Up Coast in Storm's Wake

When Hurricane Irene hit the Jersey Shore, she left an aftermath of river flooding, power outages and downed trees. She also left a little visitor who stuck around to take in some of the Jersey Shore.

Weeks after the hurricane left the shore, a small fish with a reptilian name may have caught a ride on Irene's tail.

The inshore lizardfish is a peculiar fish with a striking resemblance to a small lizard. Its mouth is shaped oddly and not like most of the fish off our coast.

Many anglers in the area have been stumped when first catching these fish.  The main problem is not knowing what to do with it.

Its small size and lack of knowledge about the fish has lead some fisherman to either use the fish for bait or simply throw it back. Lizardfish are edible, but many anglers don’t bother to fillet them due to their size.

During the summer months New Jersey has a plethora of exotic warm water species that migrate up the coast. Fish like false albacore, cobia and several shark species follow the flow of warmer water as the season progresses.

The inshore lizardfish species (Synodus foetens) may grow to sizes larger than 16 inches. They also have needle-like teeth on their tongue and roof of their mouth.

Habitation of lizardfish ranges from Massachusetts to Brazil, but are rarely seen north of South Carolina.

Lizardfish are well camouflaged fish with alternating brown and white bands on an elongated body. It has a centered dorsal fin on its back with a forked tail. It also has large eyes and two fins located on its underside.

With average sizes ranging from 6 to 13 inches it's not a large reptile imposter, but still an interesting addition to our waters. It is usually in warmer water this time of year, but may have taken a warm water ride up the coast.

Although not a typical game fish to catch, New Jersey anglers are still catching a few lizardfish here and there.

Despite its weird appearance the lizardfish is just one of the awkward fish species in our waters.

The northern pipefish (Syngnathus fuscus) closely resembles a straightened seahorse while the sea robin or gurnard is a fish with bright colors, thick outer "plating" and large wing-shaped pectoral fins.

As with many exotic fish species who visit New Jersey usually they don’t stay for long. Once the population of lizard fish finds the water is too cold they will simply swim south to warmer waters.