Rare Occurrences of Blackcheek Tonguefish, Symphurus plagiusa (Pisces: Cynoglossidae) in the Lower Hudson River Estuary

Christopher H. Bowser^1,* and Robert E. Schmidt²

¹New York State Water Resources Institute at Cornell University and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 256 Norrie Point Way, Staatsburg NY 12580. ²Hudsonia Ltd., PO Box 5000, Annandale, NY 12540. *Corresponding author.

Northeastern Naturalist, Volume 31, Issue 3 (2024): N4–N10

First published early online: 3 August 2024

Abstract
We report the capture of 10 Symphurus plagiusa (Blackcheek Tonguefish) in 2022 and 2023 at the northern end of their range. These specimens are the first records from the tidal Hudson River, and we document other tonguefish specimens from New York waters from previous records. We establish the identification of juveniles based on caudal fin ray counts and discuss the benefits of community education networks in detecting and monitoring fish species.

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