West River Hogchoker

Type: Tidal
Region: Southern
Location: South Creek off of West River

We found this in the crab pot off of the dock Sunday morning in Shady Side (South Creek ) off of West River. It looks like a small flounder, but I didn�t think that flounder would come up the bay this far?

DNR Response:That is a hogchoker which is a common flatfish in the tidal estuaries of the Chesapeake Bay. They are a "right handed" flatfish because their eyes and mouth are on their right side. They do not grow to be much more than 8" or so. They got their name because early farmers used to feed them to their hogs and apparently they were hard for the hogs to swallow because of their rasp like scales and rigid bodies.