Bagre marinus
Bandera, Sailboat Cat, Gafftopsail Sea Catfish, Gafftop Cat, Tourist Trout
The Gafftopsail Catfish is bluish-gray overall with silvery sides and a white belly. It has a robust body with a depressed broad head featuring a few flattened barbels. The dorsal and pectoral fins have greatly elongated spines.
Gafftopsails prefer crabs, shrimp, and various small fish, but like all catfish, they have broad dietary interests.
These fish range along the western Atlantic coast from Cape Cod to Panama and throughout the Gulf of Mexico, being abundant along Louisiana and Texas. They are absent from most of the West Indies and Caribbean Islands but are present in western Cuba, and extend to Venezuela and possibly as far south as Brazil.
Gafftopsails prefer deeper channels, particularly brackish water in bays and estuaries with sandy bottoms of high organic content. They prefer water temperatures between 68° to 95°F.
The average size of the Gafftopsails is usually less than 1 pound to 1½ pounds and up to 17 inches in length, but they can reach up to 10 pounds and 36 inches.
9 pounds, 10 ounces (IGFA)