The Common Snook, Centropomus undecimalis.

     Adorned with a distinct lateral line; high, divided dorsal fin; sloping forehead; large mouth, protruding lower jaw, there is nothing "common" about her.  Pelvic and tail fins often turn bright yellow especially during spawn.   Their larger size distinguishes Common Snook from others in the Centropomus and barramundi families.

     Where found: from central Florida and off Galveston,Texas south to Rio DeJaniero, Brazil.  Snook cannot tolerate water temperatures below 60 degrees F for long.  Usually inshore in coastal and brackish or fresh waters, along mangrove shorelines, seawalls, and bridges; also on reefs and pilings nearshore.  

     As juveniles, they prefer brackish water or freshwater habitats, but they must spawn in seawater (common snook eggs are not viable in salinities below ~ 28 parts per thousand, ppt).   Although billions of eggs are currently released each year by spawning females, the loss of juvenile nursery habitat imperils future snook generations. 

     Voracious ambush hunters, snook feed on small fish and crustaceans. Cannibalistic as juveniles, they have been observed eating pleicostomaus (asian catfish), a non native species that has invaded FL freshwater streams and lakes. 

     Snook, robalo, sergeant fish, soap fish, linesider, saltwater pike, are all names used to refer to what we know as the Common Snook. There are actually 12 species of the genus Centropomus that live in this hemisphere, with four of these occurring in Florida. The Common Snook (Centropomus undecimalis) is by far the most often encountered. The fat snook (Centropomus paralleus), tarpon snook (Centropomus pectinatus), and the sword-spined snook (Centropomus ensiferus) are also found in FL and TX, but rarely grow large enough to be legally caught by fishermen

Sexy Snook Facts:      Snook are catadroumous (must move from fresh to saltwater to spawn).  Snook are protandric hermaphrodites which means males reverse sex and become females; larger fish are more likely to be females.  Snook Spawn primarily in the summer when spawning balls can be observed in fast flowing passes. 

Good luck from Captain Charlie !