Marine-Life Of The Yorkshire Coast – Marine Fishes Of The Yorkshire Coast
D. E. WHITTAKER
(edited version of full MS)
The Yorkshire Marine Fish Survey 1967-[2011]
Introduction-Early days of the Survey
The small-boat and trawl fishermen of Scarborough have for some decades been playing an important part in the investigation of the marine life found off the Yorkshire coast.
In 1967, all skippers and crews operating from the port were approached by the author and asked to bring back on a constant and daily basis, anything out of the cod-end ‘rubbish’ – from sea-cucumbers to crabs, shells, old timber, whale bones and skulls, that could be of interest, and in particular, any fishes that they perhaps knew, but only saw occasionally or which were distinctly uncommon or unknown to them.Within a few days a constant flow of specimens from the off-shore grounds was being collected and taken ashore for measuring, dissection and recording.
The recording programme of the local marine biodiversity was further enhanced by the examination of fish stomach contents, by shore collections and an examination of any unusual fishes, whales and dolphins reported washed up on the shore by contacts or members of the public. One particular fish was only likely to be found by this means; the oarfish Regalecus glesne, historically has an especial association with the stretch of coast from the Firth of Forth to Flamborough Head, and because scant biological

Head of the oarfish, Regalecus glesne, stranded on the beach at Sandsend near Whitby in 1981.
knowledge has been extracted from those British fish that have occurred during the last two hundred and fifty years, every effort has been made to act quickly when learning of Regalecus findings on the shore and to endeavour to secure for examination the few specimens that have occurred during the survey period.
Fishing effort at the start of the survey
Although not realised at the time, the survey began at an opportune moment, as the Yorkshire fleets were at this time being slowly restructured and, although perhaps no one in the industry or in the fisheries laboratories at the time were aware of it, were on the verge of massive growth and investment, driven by the increasing quantities of cod coming onto the grounds and the corresponding financial returns of the fishery. Inshore trawling using keelboats had begun a few years earlier at Scarborough and elsewhere, using the new lightweight and more efficient polypropylene nets and plastic floats, although the old-fashioned metal bobbins were still to be used on the foot-rope for a few years more. Basket-lining from the keel-boats had only just been totally displaced by trawling gear, and new vessels had already begun to enter into the fleet. In 1968 the growth of so called ‘inshore’ trawling began to boom with the pattern being repeated at Bridlington and Whitby, and within a few short years the Yorkshire fleet with its attendant manpower and trawling effort had tripled.
Historical Recording of Yorkshire Fishes
Very few naturalists have shown an interest in the fishes, or indeed the marine-life generally, occurring on the Yorkshire coast, and there has never been any previous project to daily monitor the catches of the commercial fleet, the only way to constantly access the off-shore species, or to extend observations over a long period. Many species had previously been overlooked, and the true status and frequency of others, both resident and visiting vagrants, was unknown.
Previous observers include Meynell and Rudd, in the early and mid 19th century, while somewhat later, at Scarborough, the wealthy banker J. W. Woodall, who probably had a deeper interest in fisheries than banking, fitted his private steam vessel, 96 feet long and called the “Garland”, with a 25 foot beam trawl, to carry out his own private research. Thomas Stephenson, the curator of Whitby Museum from 1880 to 1916, gathered some interesting information from the activities of the fishing boats there, while at Flamborough, Matthew Bailey and John Cordeaux also took a brief interest in fishes, and at Bridlington, Thomas Boynton noted some interesting occurrences. A naturalist at Scarborough, W.J.Clarke, well known locally because of his keeping of a large boa-constrictor, had made a few scattered observations on fishes, but had no persistant interest or contact with the fishing fleet.
In the 1920’s, however, two young brothers, D. G. and J. A. Stephenson, became interested in local marine life and became friendly with the Scarborough steam trawler crews, providing some of the trawlers with containers of formalin in which to deposit items of interest. Their energetic activities in turn stimulated the fish-market superintendant, F. D. Taylor, to look out for interesting captures landed by the fleet.
The records arising from the Stephenson brothers and Taylor, renewed Clarke’s interest in marine fish, and also coincided with the gossip around the harbour about the tunny-fish being seen off-shore, with a reward subsequently being offered by a sea-front business man for one of the huge fish to be brought ashore. On September 7th 1929, the steam-drifter Ascendant, whose crew, like those of many other steam drifters, had been harpooning the big fish as a

The first tunny brought into Scarborough on the 7th September 1929.
pastime, brought in one of the tunnies, hanging over her port bow, in order to claim the reward. With this first tangeable proof of the fish to come into a Yorkshire port, Clarke began a series of articles for the angling press on the presence of the big-game fish off the Yorkshire coast, and for this valuable contribution in helping to bring the attention of the wealthy big-game anglers to the resort and the availability of the sport on its doorstep, was subsequently given a citation and a miniature gold tunny by the Harbour Commisioners.
The Stephenson brothers work, however, was brief, and they emigrated to Canada, and shortly after, Taylor retired from his job and contact with the fish market due to ill health. Clarke, or “Old Fuzzy” as he became known to the steam drifter and trawler-men of Scarborough, continued to record the landings of the tunny and other captures of the fleet, through the 1930’s and also became fascinated with the occurrence of unusual squid which appeared in the area about this same time.
Following his efforts to secure an 18 feet long specimen of the giant squid, Architeuthis, which came ashore in perfect condition in the middle of the South Bay at Scarborough, only to be jumped upon and generally mauled by the crowd that assembled around it, Clarke was honoured by having the squid named after him by Robson, the cephalopod expert at the British Museum, where the specimen is today preserved in alcohol. In 1944, shortly before his death, Clarke published the “List of Yorkshire Marine Fishes” a brief summary but of little detail, and which further contains many inaccuracies and omissions, and following which the observation of fishes occurring along the Yorkshire coast became totally neglected.
The present ongoing survey is, therefore, historically the only project on the NE coast to have daily monitored the frequency of fishes, including not only the rarer, more exotic species, including oar-fish, blackfishes, opah and sturgeon, but also those which are well-known to the fishermen, such as the red-mullet, dory, and the shads, together with those which are less frequent, such as the various sea-breams and Rays bream.
Rare Fish Miscellany
The majority of unusual fish taken off the Yorkshire Coast are from areas well to the south of the British Isles, or from the open Atlantic, while a few others of more northern distribution also occur sporadically. Most of these are variable both in the timing of their annual appearance and in the small numbers in which they occur in north-eastern waters. The reasons for such captures are probably as many and as varied, and indeed just as intangeable, as are the theories for their happening at all.
Thus, the early years of the survey were dominated by the phenomenal appearance of the Ray’s bream, Brama brama, whose migration into the North sea progressively increased and waned from the late 1960’s to the mid 1980’s, and may now be repeating the same phenomenon 40 years later. Hundreds of specimens have been examined, measured and recorded at Scarborough since 1967, including 50 from the recent winter of 2008/9.
This apparent increase in the numbers of this fish migrating northward and into the North sea from the late 1960’s and throughout the 1970’s, was not reflected by captures of any other oceanic species taken in these waters. There was, for example, no increase in occurrences of the oceanic blackfish, Centrolophus, or of the sunfish, Mola, during that period, although the latter was captured in far greater numbers during 1973 than had been recorded in any previous year in the historical record.
Since 1967 the general pattern of the migrations of the more frequent arrivals has become more clear, but every now and then a boat returns with one of the more interesting infrequent captures, such as that by George Pockley of Flamborough, of a fine ribbon-like dealfish, Trachipterus, in his salmon net in 1970.
In 1971, a gilthead sea-bream, Sparus aurata, was trawled up by Scarborough Skipper Jim Sheader of Mary Allison, while a Spanish bream, Pagellus acarne, was caught by Jim Mason of Onward Star in 1974; both of these are extremely rare visitors to the North Sea. Equally surprising was the trawling of a Greenland Shark, Somniosus, only 3ft. in length, just 16 miles off Scarborough by Michael “Andy” Anderson of Nicola Suzanne in 1978.
This shark was an occasional capture off the Yorkshire coast during the latter part of the 19th century, but the 1978 fish was only the third to be recorded here in the next, and was more remarkable for such a small, recently liberated pup, to be found so far south.
The singular occurrence of such ‘exotics’ in waters far from their normal habitat may be expected as a matter of course on every fishing ground, every year, but on occasion the numbers are greater, or a number of species from distant home grounds may appear together.
In 1977 the largest number of the Greater fork-beard, Phycis, taken in Yorkshire waters were accompanied by another

A large opah, a rare visitor to the central North sea, trawled off the Yorkshire coast
rare sea-bream, the Bogue, Boops boops, again from Filey bay, and a fine example of that diminutive tuna, the Frigate mackerel, Auxis rochei, taken by Fred Walkington in his nets in Bridlington Bay, was one of a mere handful of occasions when this fish has been taken so far north, while a related small tuna, the Bonito or Pelamid, Sarda sarda, has occurred a little more frequently, usually in the salmon nets in Filey Bay.
The appearance of species in this manner may perhaps be clues to slight or evenly grossly abnormal variations in hydrological systems, perhaps greater insurgence of water masses into the North sea from either its northern or southern entrances, but this is speculation, of course, unless correlation can be achieved with available data from observations on salinities, sea temperatures, and especially studies on the minute drifting life of the sea, the plankton.
During the 70’s, Blue whiting, Micromesistius were taken by by Scarborough and Whitby boats, the first time during the present survey, and equally surprising were captures of the rabbit-fish, Chimaera monstrosa, by Jim Leadley, just a few miles off Whitby, and of the large red-fish, Sebastes marinus, by Scarborough skipper Frank Taal of ‘Tim Windsor’, both of which were recorded for the first time on this part of the coast.
Survey work also extends to sampling of secretive, resident fish such as the Tadpole fish, Raniceps and the Yarrell’s blenny, Chirolophis, both of which are well-known to local crab and lobster fishermen, at least by sight if not by name, as frequent captures in their baited traps, but whose biology is still little known and which elsewhere around much of the British Isles are much overlooked and even today regarded as rare or unusual.
Biological Changes, Over-fishing & Climate Change
The Yorkshire coast, fronting the rich waters of the central North Sea and the vast central bank of the Dogger, is many ways unique in the hydrological influences it receives, since it is both at the tail end of currents derived from the Gulf Stream via the North Atlantic Drift while at the same time also receives influence derived from the Channel influx. It thus receives planktonic and other organisms from warmer more exotic waters, together with rare fishes from the open Atlantic, with crops of species records not seen elsewhere because of this phenomenon. At the same time it receives southern species from the southern North Sea and via the Channel. A number of northern animals disappear at their southern most limit along the Yorkshire coast. The waters of the western central North Sea are therefore a most suitable place to try and quantify any effects of environmental change with respect to “global warming” or NAO

The boarfish, Capros, is a deep water species from the continental shelf. It is an extremely rare occurrence on the Yorkshire coast.
induced effects. In the event of any creeping environmental changes taking place in British waters, its singular properties make it more likely that effects will be very noticeable here, and it would also therefore be of no surprise if great changes to established historic fisheries were also to take effect. Indeed the fisheries of the Yorkshire coast have altered radically since 1990 alongside noticeable faunistic changes, a few of which have been noticed by fishermen.
The difficulty is in identifying and quantifying what is an effect of over-fishing, and which if any, those of environmental parameters. However, it is beyond doubt that there have indeed been huge biological changes in this very unique and distinct sea area. Although not its original purpose, the survey had, from its initiation, the potential of revealing shifts in species frequency provided the daily recording was intense and constant enough and the co-operation of local fishermen could be kept going on a long-term basis.
After such a long period of recording the species frequenting this area, immense changes have been recorded among a number of invertebrate and fish taxa, and three in particular may be cited here, including the Red Mullet and the Velvet Swimming crab.There is one particular fish, however, known in Britain as the Blue Mouth Red-fish, and elsewhere in the world as the Rosebelly Sculpin, whose distribution has so radically changed above all others, that it has become a most important North Sea indicator, excluding the debatable cod, to demonstrate that there has indeed been a major climate-induced shift in the ecology of this marine species that hitherto fore had a clearly defined ecological niche, and from which juveniles have been disturbed, transported and dispersed with subsequently amazing results.
Distributional Change in the Blue Mouth Red-fish Helicolenus dactylopterus dactylopterus.
The fact that the biology and distribution of this fish have changed so dramatically and spectacularly must have

The blue mouth redfish, a deep water scorpaenid from the continental shelf. The species flooded into the North sea in the early 1990's and is now resident of the Yorkshire coast.
implications in any view of what may or may not be happening to other marine species and community systems and the transport mechanism of larval and ‘o’ group fishes into and down the North Sea. The captures by surprised Galway fishermen and anglers put the species on the front page of Fishing News (May 28 2001), but that small news item belied the terrific change that had taken place with regard to the ecology of this fish during the previous decade, and which event suggests that the rise or fall in levels of other species may equally have been effected to some degree by this same mechanism.
Prior to 1986 there was no suggestion of any particular trend or long-term event taking place on the Yorkshire Coast, other than the deteriorating status of the cod stocks from the early 60s boom, and relevant warnings about this to the industry from the scientific community, except for a small but definite shift in the status of the Velvet Swimming Crab, which by 1990 had become a huge and exploitable population. However at the end of the 80s and early 90s an unprecedented crop of mostly extremely rare fishes associated with oceanic conditions were caught in the Yorkshire area.. These included specimens of the barrel-fish, Hyperoglyphe and the Cornish blackfish, Schedophilus, species that are particularly rare at any point in the British Isles, and remarkable records of the Boar fish, Capros, and the deep-water smooth-head, Alepocephalus; all fishes associated with deep-water or the continental slope, and transported in from the Atlantic.
At the same time, small juvenile specimens of the Blue Mouth, Helicolenus, began to appear over the North Sea grounds, but these were to prove to be no transitory invaders, they were to become permanent, reproductive residents to some of these newly colonised Yorkshire localities.
Marbled in red, pink and white, adults of this striking and sedentary fish attain great age and a length of more than 32 cm in some British localities. Until 1990 this fish remained associated with its typical textbook habitat, the continental slope of the western seaboard in depths over 200 metres, thence across the northern North sea to the deep water about Norway. The only adult breeding population south of this, at least known to this author, being of a colony of large fine fish confined to the deeper-water trench of the Moray Firth, just a few miles off Fraserborough. Its relatively deep water habitat also meant it was largely unknown to many British fishermen.
South of this, the species was entirely absent, and historically there are only a few odd records of its occurrence, including one fish that astounded the knowledgeable and pioneering fisheries biologist, E.W.L Holt, when it was caught in 5 fathoms near the Humber estuary during his period of work at the Grimsby docks. It was therefore not a species that was expected to be seen in the present survey, but when the juveniles, at obviously the minimum size the commercial trawls would retain, suddenly began to be taken in local catches they immediately became the subject of particular study, with fishermen at the port being encouraged to return every example they came across.
Succeeding years saw them being taken throughout the area and southwards even into the Wash. For a brief period the species was scattered and widespread, but with time it retracted to particularly colonise the deeper grounds including those off the Tees, the holes and pits about the Dogger, and off the Humber. It has even been taken in the shallow waters of the Bloden ground with its very different current system principally originating from the Channel. There is also some indication that at some pits near the Dogger, it has displaced to some extent the orange coloured Norway Haddock, Sebastes viviparous, with which some fishermen may confuse it, and which were formerly well known residents in those areas.
From the initial catches of small fishes in the early 1990’s, the insurgents have grown steadily year on year, the largest fishes at present always being male. Hundreds of specimens have now been returned over the years for biological sampling and age determination in a study that is ongoing. A number of live specimens were taken to Sea-Life Centres without any success in maintaining them, while three fish were retained alive by this author for more than two years, when they proved to be the most inactive of fish, perching frog-like, on the “ fingers” of the pectoral fins, often holding position without moving for days or weeks on end, and preferring to take prey only when it was practically on their snout.
The close size-composition of the catches, and the progressive increments in size in each succeeding year, demonstrates that the fish currently living in this area principally originated from the massive influx of tiny fish of two or three year-classes in the early 90s. Whatever physical abnormality of their environment caused such a massive

The maturing ovaries of Helicolenus are gelatinous in appearance. After mating, sperm is stored in the ovaries and fertilisation occurs internally later in the cycle
displacement of the juveniles of this species, the ensuing conditions also ensured their survival, since this fish has now been resident in a huge and shallow sea area with which, most importantly, it had no previous biological association or success, and virtually no historical record.
Its new found success is further demonstrated by the fact that, as individuals quickly grew to maturity, spawning is believed to have first occurred in 1996, but most definitely in 1997. For the last few years, therefore, pelagic eggs and larval stages have entered the plankton in a sea area where they too had never been represented before.
It may be pointed out that the eggs of this species, in contrast to those of most other British fish, were unknown to science as little as thirty years ago, and indeed its strange reproductive biology has only been clarified in the last few years, despite commercial activity on this species in other parts of the world.
In the late 90’s, small three and four year old fish have begun to be caught again, for the first time since the original insurgents appeared, among the now older and mature fish. The sudden precipitation of juveniles into the North Sea from their deep-water niche of the Continental slope nearly two decades ago, is in some way associated with the NAO, and it is suggested that the previous appearance of these fish in these waters almost exactly one hundred years before, was due to the same mechanism. On that occasion, however, the effect must have been on a very much smaller scale and with nothing like the same number of individuals being transported into the central North Sea grounds; there was no subsequent success of colonisation and reproduction, the phenomenon witnessed during the 1990’s.
It remains to be seen whether the species will retain its hold on these new habitats in the future, and whether it can , in these localities, attain the great age and size of those living deeper down on the continental slope, but the continued presence and ageing of the original insurgents, and the appearance of new generations perhaps originating on their new

A landing of red mullet at Scarborough. During the early years of the survey this was a scarce North sea species.
North Sea spawning grounds, suggests that it will.
Changes in the Status of the Red Mullet, Mullus surmeletus
Essentially a fish of southern waters, the Channel, and previously, in limited numbers in the eastern Southern North Sea, this fish formerly occurred in very small numbers elsewhere throughout the North Sea and Scottish waters, being generally regarded as rare in these areas. In the past, incidence for Yorkshire waters has always been low, in some years occurrences not even reaching double figures, although tiny juvenile fish, some 7/10 cm TL, were discovered during the survey, from infrequent findings in cod stomachs, to be frequenting the coastline, and were not being sampled by the trawl. This species too has shown a marked increase through the 1990’s with a brief yearly fishery for it developing early in the decade on a centre of increasing aggregation discovered at that time. Despite the targeting of this brief shoaling area in summer by numerous boats of various N.E.ports, together with French boats, the species continues to be an increasingly successful North Sea species. Fishing activity on this area was heavy in 2001 and included two Whitby boats landing some 1750 kilos of red mullet one morning in late June
During the last two decades, records of its occurrence on the Yorkshire coast have increased steadily to the point where it is now frequently the case that as many red mullet appear on just one days market as were previously accumulated in 2, 3 or more years of records in the early days of the survey.
Changes in the status of the Velvet Swimming crab,
Although known from most areas around the British Isles, the population of this species on the Yorkshire coast could

Liparis liparis, a common species occurring just offshore. It has a gelatinous appearance and a loose skin, and has a sucker disc on the belly between the fins, by which means it can fasten itself to the sea bed.
previously have been described as scarce or uncommon; in fact during a particular museum project in 1967 to obtain living specimens, it proved impossible to secure specimens, either from commercial crab-potting boats, most of whose crews had never seen a specimen, or from the shore; similarly, it was at that time also unknown to the local angling fraternity who regularly work the shore for soft-crab bait.
Since the early 1980’s there has been a complete change in the status of this crab on this coastline, where for a period it continued to proliferate year by year. Such a population explosion in a crustacean has not been experienced here by any other species at any previous time. For a while this crab began to displace the previously abundant green shore crab throughout the area, and it has become the dominant species on the Yorkshire shore, while offshore it is taken down to 40 metres.
So abundant has it become that occasionally some areas were avoided by inshore trawlers due to the immense quantities capable of being taken and the damage to be incurred on the nets. Although a goodly local fishery now exists for a species once so uncommon, the difficulties associated with handling and keeping have deferred anything other than comparatively minor landings at Scarborough.
Whether the displacement of species other than the shore crab is occurring, for example on other species of swimming crab which are among the principle prey items of young cod, has not so far been noticed. Given the unprecedented and

A large John Dory of 1.8 kg from the central North sea. Fish of this size are rare in this sea area, most being juveniles of one or two years of age.
continuing explosion of this species to the present level, its position vis a vis the important local lobster stocks is of interest since a potential may exist for adverse competition with, or even predation of, lobster juveniles and their recruitment to the fishery. No such conflict has been observed however, and lobster stocks appear to be stronger than they have ever previously been.
Many other species changes have been noted including the welcome return of increasing numbers of halibut, Hippoglossus, and infrequent captures of the black-bellied angler, Lophius budegassa, another new species to the Yorkshire fauna, not seen in the central North Sea prior to the 1990s. The greater frequency of certain squids, including the “soft” squid Todaropsis eblanae from the north and Loligo vulgaris from the southern North Sea and Channel, both useful indicators of various water masses originating from different entries of this enclosed sea area, has also been notable. Other species, including the Bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, has also greatly increased in this sea area, to the point of now being capable of supporting a valuable winter fishery. Numbers of Twaite shad, Alosa fallax, have also increased, possibly associated with climate change and a greater northward, winter-time, migration, although another southern species, the Dory, Zeus faber, appears to have shown no marked change in frequency during the entire length of the survey. Some species, however, have become extinct in the area, and the populations of others greatly depressed, from their mid 1960’s status.
Fishes recorded from the North East coast & Central North Sea
Myxinidae
Myxine glutinosa Linnaeus, 1758 Hagfish, Devourer
Petromyzonidae
Petromyzon marinus Linnaeus, 1758 Sea Lamprey
Lampetra fluviatilis (Linnaeus, 1758) River Lamprey
Isuridae
Lamna nasus (Bonnaterre, 1788) Porbeagle Shark
Cetorhinidae
Cetorhinus maximus (Gunnerus, 1765) Basking Shark
Alopiidae
Alopias vulpinus (Bonnaterre, 1788) Thresher or Fox Shark
Scyliorhinidae
Scyliorhinus canicula (Linnnaeus, 1758) Lesser spotted dogfish, locally Nurse
Scyliorhinus stellaris (Linnaeus, 1758) Nursehound, Greater spotted Dogfish
Carcharinidae
Prionace glauca (Linnaeus, 1758) Blue Shark
Triakidae
Mustelus asterias Cloquet, 1821 Starry Smooth Hound
Galeorhinus galeus (Linnaeus, 1758) Tope
Squalidae
Squalus acanthias Linnaeus, 1758 Spiny or Spur dogfish
Echinorhinus bruchus (Bonnaterre, 1788) Spinous or Bramble Shark
Somniosus microcephalus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Greenland Shark
Squatinidae
Squatina squatina (Linnaeus, 1758) Fiddle fish, Monk fish
Torpedinidae
Torpedo nobiliana Bonaparte, 1835 Electric Ray
Torpedo marmorata Risso,1810 Marbled Electric Ray
Rajidae
Raja oxyrhynchus Linnaeus, 1758 Long nosed Skate
Raja batis Linnaeus, 1758 Blue Skate
Raja fullonica Linnaeus 1758 Shagreen Ray
Raja undulata Lacepede, 1802 Undulate Ray
Raja radiata Donovan, 1808 Starry Ray
Raja naevus Muller & Henle, 1841 Cuckoo Ray
Raja circularis Couch, 1838 Sandy Ray
Raja montagui Fowler, 1910 Spotted Ray
Raja clavata Linnaeus, 1758 Roker, Thornback Ray
Raja brachyura Blonde Ray
Dasyatidae
Dasyatis pastinaca (Linnaeus,1758) Sting Ray
Myliobatidae
Myliobatis aquila (Linnaeus, 1758) Eagle Ray
Chimaeridae
Chimaera monstrosa Linnaeus, 1758 Chimaera, Rat fish
Acipenseridae
Acipenser sturio Linnaeus, 1758 Sturgeon
Alepocephalidae
Alepocephalus bairdii Goode & Bean, 1879 Bairds Smoothhead
Clupeidae
Engraulis encrasicolus (Linnaeus, 1758) Anchovy

A catch of shads from the Yorkshire coast, including a single large allis shad among the more abundant twaite shad
Alosa alosa(Linnaeus, 1758) Allis Shad
Alosa fallax (Lacepede, 1803) Twaite Shad
Sardina pilchardus (Walbaum, 1792) Pilchard, Sardine
Sprattus sprattus (Linnaeus, 1758) Sprat
Clupea harengus Linnaeus, 1758 Herring
Gonostomatidae
Maurolicus muelleri (Gmelin, 1788) Pearl side
Salmonidae
Oncorhynchus gorbuscha (Walbaum, 1792)
Salmo salar Linnaeus,1758 Salmon

Ovaries of an immature twaite shad from the winter migration off the Yorkshire coast.
Salmo trutta Linnaeus, 1758 Sea trout
Argentinidae
Argentina silus (Ascanius, 1775) Greater Argentine
Argentina sphyraena Linnaeus, 1758 Lesser Argentine
Osmeridae
Osmerus eperlanus Linnaeus, 1758 Smelt
Anguillidae
Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758) Common Eel
Congridae

The large ovaries of a maturing twaite shad from the annual winter migration off the Yorkshire coast.
Conger conger ([Artedi, 1738] Linnaeus, 1758) Conger Eel
Scomberisocidae
Scomberesox saurus(Walbaum, 1792) Skipper,
Belonidae Garfish
Belone belone (Linnaeus, 1761) Garfish
Macrorhamphosidae
Macrorhamphosus scolopax (Linnaeus, 1758)
Syngnathidae Pipefishes
Syngnathus typhle Linnaeus 1758 Broad-nosed pipefish
Syngnathus acus Linnaeus, 1758 Greater pipe-fish
Syngnathus rostellatus Nilsson, 1855 Nillsons pipe-fish
Entelurus aequoreus (Linnaeus, 1758) Snake pipe-fish
Nerophis lumbriciformis (Jenyns, 1835) Worm pipe-fish
Nerophis ophidion (Linnaeus, 1758) Straight-nosed pipe-fish
Hippocampus ramulosus Leach,1814 Sea-horse
Gasterosteidae
Gasterosteus aculeatus Linnaeus, 1758 Stickleback
Spinachia spinachia (Linnaeus, 1758) Fifteen-spined stickleback
Merlucciidae
Merluccius merluccius (Linnaeus, 1758) Hake
Gadidae Codfishes
Micromesistius poutassou (Risso,1826) Blue whiting
Merlangius merlangus (Linnaeus, 1758) Whiting
Trisopterus luscus Bib, Pout
Trisopterus esmarkii (Nilsson,1855) Norway pout
Trisopterus minutus (Linnaeus, 1758) Poor cod
Pollachius pollachius (linnaeus, 1758) Coal-fish
Pollachius virens (Linnaeus, 1758) Pollack
Gadus morhua Linnaeus, 1758 Cod
Melanogrammus aeglefinus (Linnaeus, 1758) Haddock
Brosme brosme (Ascanius, 1772) Tusk
Phycis blennoides (Brunnich, 1768) Greater fork-beard
Molva molva (Linnaeus, 1758) Ling
Raniceps raninus (Linnaeus, 1758) Tadpole fish, Lesser fork-beard
Gaidropsarus mediterraneus (Linnaeus, 1758) Shore (three-bearded) rockling
Gaidropsarus vulgaris (Cloquet, 1824) Three-bearded Rockling (offshore)
Rhininemus cimbrius (Linnaeus, 1758) Four-bearded rockling
Ciliata septentrionalis (Collett, 1875) Northern rockling
Ciliata mustela (Linnaeus, 1758) Five-bearded rockling
Lamprididae
Lampris guttatus (Brunnich, 1788) Opah
Regalecidae Oar-fish
Regalecus glesne Ascanius, 1772 Banks oar-fish, Ribbon fish
Trachipteridae Ribbonfish
Trachipterus arcticus (Brunnich, 1771) Arctic deal-fish
Zeidae
Zeus faber Linnaeus, 1758 John Dory
Caproidae
Capros aper (Linnaeus, 1758) Boar fish
Moronidae
Dicentrarchus labrax (Linnaeus,1758) Bass
Serranidae
Polyprion americanus (Schneider, 1801)Wreck-fish
Serranus cabrilla (Linnaeus, 1785) Comber
Cepolidae
Cepola rubescens Linnaeus, 1766 Red band fish
Carangidae
Naucrates ductor (Linnaeus, 1758)
Trachurus trachurus (Linnaeus, 1758) Scad
Bramidae
Brama brama (Bonnaterre, 1788) Rays Bream, Atlantic pomfret
Scienidae
Argyrosomus regius (Asso, 1801) Meagre
Mullidae
Mullus surmuletus Linnaeus, 1758 Red Mullet
Sparidae
Boops boops (Linnaeus, 1758) Bogue
Pagellus acarne (Risso, 1826) Spanish bream
Pagellus bogaraveo Delaroche, 1809 Red sea bream
Sparus aurata Linnaeus, 1758 Gilthead sea-bream
Sparus pagrus (Linnaeus, 1758) Couch’s sea-bream
Spondyliosoma cantharus (Linnaeus, 1758) Black sea-bream
Labridae Wrasses
Symphodus (Crenilabrus) melops (Linnaeus, 1758) Corkwing
Ctenolabrus rupestris (Linnaeus, 1758) Goldsinny
Labrus bimaculatus Linnaeus, 1758 Cuckoo wrasse
Labrus bergylta Ascanius,1767 Ballan wrasse
Centrolabrus exoletus (Linnaeus, 1758) Rock cook
Ammodytidae Sandeels
Gymnammodytes semisquamatus (Jourdain,1879) Smooth sandeel
Ammodytes tobianus Linnaeus, 1758 Sandeel
Ammodytes marinus Raitt, 1934 Raitt’s sandeel
Hyperoplus lanceolatus Le Sauvage, 1824 Greater sandeel
Hyperoplus immaculatus (Corbin,1950) Corbin’s sandeel
Trachinidae Weever fish
Echiichthys vipera (Cuvier, 1829) Lesser weever
Trachinus draco Linnaeus, 1758 Greater weever
Scombidae Tunnies and mackerels
Auxis rochei (Risso, 1810) Frigate Mackerel
Scombrus scombrus Linnaeus1758 Mackerel
Sarda sarda (Bloch, 1793) Pelamid, Bonito
Thunnus thynnus (Linnaeus, 1758) Tunny, Blue-fin tuna
Xiphidae
Xiphias gladius Linnaeus, 1758 Swordfish
Gobiidae
Lebatus scorpioides (Collett, 1874) (Malm,1874) Diminutive Goby
Crystallogobius linearis (von Duben, 1845) Crystal Goby
Aphia minuta (Risso,1810) Transparent Goby
Lesuerigobius friesii (Malm,1874)Frie’s Goby
Buenia jeffreysii (Gunther, 1867) Jeffrey’s goby
Gobiusculus flavescens (Fabricius, 1779) Two spot goby
Pomatoschistus pictus (Malm, 1865)Painted goby
Pomatoschistus microps (Kroyer, 1838) Common Goby
Pomatoschistus minutus (Pallas, 1770) Sand Goby
Pomatoschistus norvegicus (Collett,1903) Norway Goby
Thorogobius ephippiatus (Lowe,1839) Leopard-spotted Goby
Gobius niger Linnaeus, 1758 Black goby
Callionymidae
Callionymus reticulatus Valenciennes, 1837 Reticulated dragonet
Callionymus maculatus Rafinesque-Schmaltz, 1810 Spotted dragonet
Callionymus lyra Linnaeus,1758 Common dragonet
Blennidae
Lipophrys pholis (Linnaeus, 1758)Common blenny
Parablennius gattorugine (Brunnich, 1768)Tompot blenny
Anarhichidae
Anarhichas lupus Linnaeus, 1758 Wolf-fish
Anarhichas denticulatus Kroyer,1845 Jelly cat
Sticheidae
Chirolophis ascanii (Walbaum,1792) Yarrell’s blenny, Atlantic warbonnet
Pholidae
Pholis gunnellus (Linnaeus, 1758) Butterfish
Lumpenidae
Lumpenus lampretaeformis (Walbaum, 1792)Snake blenny
Zoarcidae
Zoarces viviparous (Linnaeus,1758) Viviparus blenny
Carapidae
Echiodon drummondi (Cuvier,1829) Pearl-fish
Centrolophidae
Centrolophus niger (Gmelin,1788) Blackfish
Schedophilus medusophagus Cocco, 1839 Cornish blackfish
Hyperoglyphe perciformis (Mitchill, 1818) Barrel-fish
Mugilidae
Chelon labrosus (Risso,1826) Grey mullet
Liza ramada (Risso, 1826) Thin-lipped grey mullet
Liza aurata (Risso, 1810) Golden grey mullet
Atherinidae
Atherina presbyter Cuvier, 1829
Scorpaenidae
Helicolenus dactylopterus dactylopterus (Delaroche, 1809) Blue mouth,
Sebastes viviparous Kroyer, 1845 Norway haddock
Sebastes marinus (Linnaeus,1758) Redfish
Triglidae
Eutrigla gurnardus (Linnaeus,1758) Grey gurnard
Trigloporus lastoviza (Brunnich, 1768) Streaked gurnard
Aspitrigla cuculus (Linnaeus, 1758)Red gurnard
Trigla lucerna Linnaeus,1758 Tub or Saphirine Gurnard
Cottidae
Triglops murrayi Gunther, 1888
Myoxocephalus scopius (Linnaeus, 1758) Bull-rout
Taurulus bubalis (Euphrasen,1786) Sea-scorpion
Micrenophrys lilljeborgi (Collett, 1875) Norway Bullhead
Agonidae
Agonus cataphractus Pogge, (Linnaeus, 1758) Armoured bullhead, Hooknose
Cyclopteridae
Cyclopterus lumpus Linnaeus, 1758 Lumpsucker
Liparidae
Liparis liparis (Linnaeus,1766) Sea snail
Liparis montagui (Donovan, 1804) Montagu’s sea snail, shore sea snail
Scophthalmidae Left-eyed flatfish
Psetta maxima (Linnaeus, 1758) Turbot
Scophthalmus rhombus (Linnaeus,1758) Brill
Zeugopterus punctatus (Bloch, 1787) Common Topknot
Phrynorhombus norvegicus (Gunther,1862) Norwegian Topknot
Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis (Walbaum,1792) Megrim
Bothidae
Arnoglossus laterna (Walbaum,1792) Scaldfish
Pleuronectidae Right-eyed flatfishes
Limanda limanda (Linnaeus, 1758) Dab
Platichthys flesus (Linnaeus, 1758) Flounder
Pleuronectes platessa Linnaeus,1758 Plaice
Microstomus kitt (Walbaum,1792) Lemon sole
Glyptocephalus cynoglossus (Linnaeus,1758) Witch, Pole Dab
Hypoglossoides platessoides (Fabricius,1780) Long Rough Dab
Hippoglossus hippoglossus (Linnaeus, 1758) Halibut
Soleidae
Solea solea Quensel, 1806 Common Sole
Buglossidium luteum (Risso,1810) Solenette
Microchiurus variegates (Donovan,1808) Thickback Sole
Molidae
Mola mola (Linnaeus, 1758) Sunfish
Ranzania laevis (Pennant, 1776) Slender Sunfish
Gobiesocidae
Diplecogaster bimaculata bimaculata (Bonnaterre, 1788) Two-spotted clingfish
Lophidae
Lophius piscatorius Linnaeus, 1758 Angler fish, locally Monk
Lophius budegassa Spinola, 1807 Black-bellied Angler