unknown fish caught in grass flats in st pete fl

[marineaquariums]

anyone know what kind of fish this is, i caugh it in the grass flats near the skyway, i think it is more of a rock fish not a grass flats fish, he is only maybe 1/4 inch, have hime with a clown trigger and he holds his own very aggresive tough fish and can eat 5 to 8 pieces of brine shrimp no problem
regards
Bill
http://www.corals-n-more.com/Reefcentral/unknown.JPG

[T-T-Trigger]

I'll take one stab... or I might search all night ;)

bank sea bass (http://indian-river.fl.us/fishing/fish/sbassban.html)


http://indian-river.fl.us/fishing/fish/sbassban.jpg



looks like some kinda sea bass anyway.

[T-T-Trigger]

or maybe the rock sea bass:

"Where found: OFFSHORE; differs from other sea basses in that it is often found on sandy or muddy bottoms.

[T-T-Trigger]

<--- not from Florida :D but some quick searches suggest snapper are real common in the grass beds. Maybe a juvenile snapper of some sort?

[marineaquariums]

yes he is a mangrove snapper
http://marinefisheries.org/FishID/snapgray.html
thanks

[prugs]

I hear they are Delicious fried or broiled.

[Sk8r]

Cute little guy. Trigger might be able to stand him off.

[sunfishh]

What ever it is....nice pickup :)

[stykthyn]

mangrove, I catch them all the time. very tasty dont give in to temptation when it gets bigger.
btw those guys get big and their stomachs know no bounds. be careful what you house with him.

[thor32766]

yeah this like a big mouth bass! it would be cool to rise him up for awhile. Already eating prepared foods, sweet!@ good luck with him

[marineaquariums]

yes well when he gets big he will go back into the wild, i have done that with puffers, lane snappers, ladyfish, baracudda once but he grew really fast and a really cool goby not easy to catch that one, the one trick with any of these wild fish is keeping them happy with food,, and for being picky i can get any of these fish to eat frozen food in a few days if not one day
oh yae he is with a 2 inch clown trigger and i think the trigger is a affraid of him lol the snapper in 1/4 inch long tiny little guy
thanks for the input
regards

Billhttp://www.corals-n-more.com/Reefcentral/snapper.JPG