Species: Menidia beryllina, Inland Silverside

Menidia beryllina (Cope, 1867)

Inland Silverside

Slender, elongate, compressed; eye large; snout shorter than eye, without pits, pores or tubes on top; top jaw extendible, premaxilla with rear end greatly expanded, without expanded bony process above its center; teeth well developed, in bands; first dorsal IV-VI, origin before anus; soft dorsal usually 9 rays; horizontal distance between 1st dorsal and anal usually <7% of SL; anal fin I, 15-19, its margin strongly concave; pelvics inserted nearer pectoral base than anal origin; scales without scalloped edges; lateral scales 37-41.

Yellow to olive above lateral stripe, this area crosshatched with dark lines in fish from clear water; pale yellow to translucent below stripe.

Reaches 10 cm.

Shallow coastal areas, estuaries and inland waterways.

Depth range: 0-30 m.

Massachusetts to the Gulf of Mexico.