Hogchoker Identification Guide

Key identification features

• Small, right-eyed, oval to nearly round flatfish
• No pectoral fins; the dorsal and anal fins nearly encircle the body
• Mottled brown coloring with dark blotches, bars, or fine speckling
• Rough, sandpapery scales compared to smoother-skinned flatfish
• Blind side is usually plain pale yellow or white with little pattern
• Typically 3 to 6 inches long, rarely growing much larger even as adults

Common look-alikes

• Naked sole shows neat, alternating light-and-dark bands rather than the hogchoker's irregular blotchy mottling.
• Other American soles (Achiridae) differ mainly in the density and arrangement of blotches, requiring close comparison to separate.
• Blackcheek tonguefish has a tapering, pointed tail rather than the hogchoker's evenly rounded outline, and lives in more marine waters.

Where you'll see one

Hogchokers live on muddy and sandy bottoms of estuaries and bays along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and are unusual among flatfish for tolerating fresh water, often found far up coastal rivers well beyond typical marine salinity levels reached by most relatives.