Atlantic Angel Shark ~ New Jersey Scuba Diving

Atlantic Angel Shark

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Squatina dumerili

Size: to 5 ft

Habitat: shallow coastal waters to extreme depths

Notes:
Angel Sharks are ambush predators, much like Goosefish. They are generally passive creatures but can bite viciously if provoked. They seem to be intermediate between sharks and rays, and are actually more closely related to Spiny Dogfish than anything else, despite appearances.

Sharks - Dogfishes

Smooth Dogfish — Most of these sharks are in more danger
from us than we are from them.
Real sharks are ashamed of them.

"Dogfish" is a generic name for a large number of small, generally harmless, and unaggressive sharks, not all of which are very closely related. Smooth Dogfishes are related to Tiger, Bull, and other Requiem Sharks, while Spiny Dogfishes are in a completely different group, more closely related to Angel Sharks. Compare these with the unrelated Chain Dogfish, a "Cat" shark. Sandbar sharks have nothing in common with the others here, except their small size. None of these little sharks is really dangerous, although any of them could give a good bite if provoked. Generally, they will avoid you.

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Striped Bass

Morone saxatilis

Profile by Thomas Baum,
Senior Fisheries Biologist

Common Name:
Striped Bass, also called Rockfish, Rock, Striper, and Linesider

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Porgy (Scup)

Stentotomus chrysops

Profile by Stacey Reap

Range:
Scup have been found along the Atlantic coast from the Bay of Fundy and Sable Island Bank, Canada, to as far south as Florida; however, the greatest concentrations can be found from Massachusetts to North Carolina. Depending upon the season, they can be found from coastal waters and estuaries out to depths of approximately 650 ft. along the outer continental shelf. A separate population of scup referred to as the "southern porgy" or S. aculeatus, is referenced in several South Atlantic Bight studies; however, there is no official differentiation made between the two populations by the American Fisheries Society.

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