Credit: Illustration by Diane Rome Peebles

Family Exocoetidae

Description: body relatively deep; head short; snout very short, only slightly overhanging mouth; silvery stripe narrow, often faint or absent toward front; stripe fades after death; body grayish, with few melanophores above; dorsal fin far back - the only U.S. species in which that fin begins above or only very slightly in front of anal fin; 11 to 14 (usually 12 to 13) pectoral fin rays; 23 to 31 (usually 24 to 29) anal fin rays

Size: to 10 centimeters (4 inches)

Where found: in shallow bays and estuaries, but found in water up to 120 feet; common in brackish waters

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