Fish Homepage Invertebrates Reptiles Birds Mammals Silversides are a group of schooling fish abundant in the lagoon and in coastal Atlantic waters. They are identified by the prominent silvery stripe that runs down the length of their bodies - hence the common name silverside. Silversides are about the same size as anchovies, but they do not have the large, specialized filter-feeding mouths anchovies have.
Silversides are important as commercial baitfish and as a natural food for larger predatory species.
On the whole, this group of fishes exhibits a wide range of salinity preferences. Several species commonly exist in full- strength seawater, and other species live in pure freshwater. The species which live in the lagoon exist at an intermediate salinity and can survive fairly large natural salinity fluctuations over the course of the season. Silverside Menidia sp.