Skilletfish

Gobiesox strumosus

The skilletfish has a frying pan-shaped body that varies in color from pale gray to dark olive-brown, often with a mottled pattern. Adults have:

• A large suction disk on the underside, formed by modified pelvic fins.
• A broad, flat head with tiny eyes, strong teeth and fleshy lips.
• A dark band at the base of a rounded tail fin.

Skilletfish usually grow to about 3 inches.

Where do skilletfish live?

Skilletfish can be found throughout the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers, as far north as the Magothy River in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

• During the warmer months, skilletfish live in shallow waters, mostly among oyster reefs but also over mud flats and eelgrass beds.
• In the winter, skilletfish move to the Bay's deep channels.
• Skilletfish are almost always found clinging to rocks or shells with their suction disk.

What do skilletfish eat?

Skilletfish feed mostly on bristle worms and small crustaceans.

How do skilletfish reproduce?

Skilletfish spawn from April through August. The female lays a few hundred small, amber-colored eggs into empty oyster shells. The male then guards the eggs until they hatch.

Other facts about skilletfish:

• Skilletfish are also called oyster clingfish because of their tendency to latch on to oyster shells.
• The skilletfish gets its name from its frying pan-shaped body.
• With some luck, you can find a skilletfish hiding in an empty oyster shell in the shallows of the Chesapeake Bay. Skilletfish cling to objects so tightly that they will stay stuck on a shell if it is taken out of the water!
• Skilletfish are great aquarium fish. They will usually cling to the glass of the tank, just as they cling to shells in the Bay.