Strange fish Identification needed.

[hotelbravo]

Hello all.
so yesterday I went fishing for food for the anemone, eel, ect. I use fish/shrimp traps and a net to catch food. after a good long day of fishing with my handnet I gathered quite a bit of shrimp and squid (I throw fish back usually) I usually wait a few hours after dark to grab my fish traps so the shrimp can come in them too they seem more active at night. well without really looking to hard at what was in the traps I dumped them in the bucket and drove home.
when I was packaging all the shrimp and squid I caught I found this little fish in there and it was just to cool looking to use as fish food so I threw it in my sump as I didn't have anywhere else to put him and its not a short drive to the beach where I caught him.
Can anyone help me ID him and figure out what he is?? ive caught them before but very rarely and always at night. I never tried to keep one cause I know nothing about what they require but this was all an accident keeping this one so I want help please.
im stationed in south Mississippi and was caught here on the gulf. it is about the size of a US Dime.

 

[Dmorty217]

Looks like a batfish to me.

 

[KafudaFish]

Looks like a juvenile Atlantic spadefish.

 

[Dmorty217]

Looks like a juvenile Atlantic spadefish.

Think we have a winner

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

Looks like it gets pretty large...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_spadefish

 

[hotelbravo]

Yea thats what ive been reading. I have a buddy that manages some exhibits in the public aquarium in New Orleans. Maybe he will want it for one of their tanks.

 

[hotelbravo]

so i havent been able to talk to the guy who works at the public aquarium i might see him sometime this week he comes into the LFS i volunteer at all the time but has been mia last couple of days.

on a side note the little critter appears to be eating stuff off the rocks in my refugium which i can only assume are amphipods and copepods i didnt get a close enough look. i also fed him my homemade frozen food which is a mixture of squid, shrimp, oyster, clam, scallop, green algae, arctic pods, and mysis. not sure which of this mixture he is eating but is certainly eating something.

 

[whitetail187]

These are awesome to dive with. They come in by the hundreds and some will actually rub themselves on you purposely

 

[happyhourhero]

They eat jellyfish usually.

 

[ThRoewer]

Here is some research work on how to feed them: Optimal Feeding of Juvenile Atlantic Spadefish

And here some more info on them: http://ww2.odu.edu/sci/cqfe/Research/Chesapeake%20Bay/Atlantic%20spadefish/Atlantic%20Spadefish.htm

 

[Fishkeeper44]

Spadefish. I find them at the beach all the time.

 

[hotelbravo]

It may be to late. Ive been looking everywhere for him in the sump since yesterday. It seems he is mia. I have a serpent star and a predatory snail that could have cleaned up the body in no time if it died

 

[jayball]

It may be to late. Ive been looking everywhere for him in the sump since yesterday. It seems he is mia. I have a serpent star and a predatory snail that could have cleaned up the body in no time if it died

Honestly it is probably for the best-
(from WIKI)
Specimens commonly weigh from 3 to 10 pounds (1.4 to 4.5 kg), although individuals as large as 20 pounds (9 kg) have been recorded.[2][4] Their maximum length is about 36 inches (91 cm).[2]

The only chance you would have to adequately house it is if the public aquarium took it. You should never release a fish that was in an aquarium of mixed origins because of the off chance that something hitches a ride back to the gulf that can become invasive.

 

[hotelbravo]

Honestly it is probably for the best-
(from WIKI)
Specimens commonly weigh from 3 to 10 pounds (1.4 to 4.5 kg), although individuals as large as 20 pounds (9 kg) have been recorded.[2][4] Their maximum length is about 36 inches (91 cm).[2]

The only chance you would have to adequately house it is if the public aquarium took it. You should never release a fish that was in an aquarium of mixed origins because of the off chance that something hitches a ride back to the gulf that can become invasive.

Since you bumped my thread i feel that i must update everyone. i did find the spadefish in the sump and the public aquarium did want him infact they have asked that i go with one of their guys and try to catch more around 25 or so. we went out last night at caught around 18 of them all under the size of a quarter and they want us to go back out tonight to try to catch the rest. i think they are only allowed to take 25 cause they repeatedly mentioned no more than 25 but as close to it as possible.
from what im gathering they will be in a very very large aquarium but will be in a grow out tank for some time before that. the 18 are currently in my sump and surprisingly they are eating frozen food extremely well like pigs infact.

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

Sounds like fun. Just be careful that you don't introduce any disease or pathogens to your tank by housing all of these fish in your sump...

 

[hotelbravo]

Yes I am a little scared of that I bought a little 10 gallon today with a small filter and bubblestone im gonna put them in it when I get off work and hopefully nothing was introduced.

 

[jayball]

Wow, that is very cool. Good luck with them.