DISTINGUISHING FEATURES AND BEHAVIORS

The scup is a medium-sized fish with a deep, vertically compressed body. Its scales are iridescent, often reflecting the colors of the rainbow. Scup have small mouths with strong jaws and pointed teeth used to crush small mollusk shells. Its dorsal fin is composed of sharp spines that make up more than half the entire fin length.

Scup are a migratory species that travels in schools of similarly sized fish. The scup has a lateral line along the side of its body. This thin, dark line acts as a sense organ, helping the fish to detect tiny movements in the water. This allows scup to move quickly in a school without bumping into one another, to sense danger, and to find food. Scup are bottom feeders, often gathering near rocks and submerged pilings to feed on barnacles, mollusks, worms, and other invertebrates.

Scup stay within a few miles of the coastline during the summer months. They are sensitive to cold water temperatures and will move offshore into deeper waters during the winter. If caught in shallow waters when a cold snap hits, scup will often die. During the summer months, they tend to gather near the coastline and are never found more than a few miles offshore.

RELATIONSHIP TO PEOPLE

Scup is a favorite sport fish for anglers in the Bay. Second onto to bluefish in number of pounds landed, they are fished with worms, clams or squid from June to August over sandy bottoms. Scup is also an important commercial species, harvested in great numbers each year. This species is commonly exported to Japan.

At one time, scup and winter flounder comprised the majority of fish species in the Bay. As a result of overfishing and habitat destruction, scup is considered to be an overexploited species.