A Hickey on a Fluke

I am firm believer that one can obtain a good deal of information about a body of water just by pulling a net through its shallows.  This is where countless small life endures and juvenile creatures fight to stay alive. Every day is different. You never know what life and death scenarios you may discover.

The other day I was out with friends along the edge of Sandy Hook Bay, within sight of New York City,  to pull a seine net through the water. We were curious to see what may be swimming in the shallows during the Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer. Although water temperatures were in the 60s, the diversity of life was low with only the usual assortment of animals in the net including silversides, sand shrimp, and hermit crabs. Yet, there was one unusual critter that caught our eye.

It was a juvenile Summer Flounder, also known as a fluke. The fish was about 10 inches long, and only a year or so old. It most likely hatched offshore sometime in the fall or early winter, one of perhaps more than 4 million eggs  released by a single female. As a newly hatched larvae it would have moved with the ocean currents, drifting slowly toward coastal areas and eventually entering New York Harbor and Sandy Hook Bay. Here it would feed, rest, and mature. Until one day when something terrible happened to this little fish.

This fluke had strange bite marks on its underside and a piece of its anal fin was bitten off. The poor thing was recently under attack by something.

In spite of everything, though, the fish was still alive! A lucky escape by the looks of it.

There is no telling for sure who or what tried to make meal out of this flatfish. My best guess would be a Bluefish. I doubt it was preyed upon by a dogfish, ray or a large shark. It would have been a tasty meal instead of a fish with a hickey on its white stomach.

Schools of Bluefish are starting to enter the estuary after migrating northward to release their own eggs in the ocean. The fish are no doubt hungry. Bluefish are fast, have voracious appetites, like to bite things, and have lots of sharp teeth. It’s why they are sometimes called the piranhas of cold water.  

Could it have been a hungry Bluefish. Did it try to sink its teeth into a fluke?  If so, why didn’t it gobble the fish down?

Don’t be fooled by this weird looking fish. Flukes are no easy catch. Summer Flounders can grow fast, swim fast, and can camouflage themselves to disappear among the sand and shells on the bottom of the bay. They’re nicknamed “chameleons of the sea” because they’re able to change their coloring to blend in with the texture and color of the bottom where they live. They are silent and patient predators that can quickly ambush a small fish or crab. Summer Flounders have strong jaws and razor sharp teeth that can cut your finger, and other fish as well.

Perhaps the Bluefish tried to bite off more than it could chew. The fluke fought back  and surprised the Bluefish just enough to make it swim away to feed another day.

What a busy time for this fish! First the flounder fights off an attack by perhaps a hungry Bluefish, then gets caught in a seine net to get it’s picture taken. Not exactly a stress free Memorial Day holiday.

The trembling eyes and jerky movements of this young flounder, however, could tell us it was no survivor. The poor fish would not live much longer. The bite marks were truing bright red and there was a crimson color around the fins. The incisions might have become infected and the arrival of parasites could have been making this fish feel sick. It put up a good fight though.

This estuary is not only a place of opportunity, but of danger as well. The drama of survival takes place every day in Sandy Hook Bay and in the larger New York Harbor. It is a classic food chain, one animal eating another to survive. We may not see all that takes place underneath the water and waves, sometimes all we find are remnants washed upon on beach, a dead fish, some bones, empty shells. It is enough, however, to suggest  our local waters contain life beyond anything we can imagine.
 
For more information, pictures and year-round sightings of wildlife in or near Sandy Hook Bay, Raritan Bay, and Lower New York Bay, please check out my blog entitled, Nature on the Edge of New York City at http://natureontheedgenyc.blogspot.com/