Fish i.d.

[seanie35]

Second pic looks like a pollock looking at the bottom jaw, is it the same fish?

Yes same fish

[tight lines]

well done sean nice pollock

[anto2121]

maybe it a pollock/coalie hybrid a pollie , still nice fish and always nice to get a good scrap.

[cathalger]

First pic looks like a lovely big silvery coley but with a pollacks undershot lower lip, 2nd pic looks like a defo pollack. The ferocity of the fight cried out coley but the 2nd pic for me virtually confirms it as a pollack, unfortunately the lateral line for me anyway is difficult to make out in either pic, usually a bold white stripe on a coley.

Agree with Etihad on the tail, its a pollacks tail slightly closed, coley tail is rigid and forked.

I really thought coley on the first pic but the tail and gub say otherwise. Its really silver looking but maybe thats all down to flash. Is there a such thing as a hybrid????

[seanie35]

Hi cathalgar the very reasons for the i.d. Request were the fight and the colour. It was very lightly coloured , i was thinking though maybe like cod they colour to like there exact habitat, the location of capture was a sandy beach with some reefs 80 yards offshore. Think we will just call it a pollack i was kinda hoping for coalie as 3.5lb is a good size for shore fishing , regards sean

[donal domeney]

It's a coalfish
This is fron the I.S.F.C. Booklet


POLLACK Pollachius pollachius M.
Ir. Mangach; F. Lieu; Ge. Pollack; Du. Pollak; it. Merluzzo, giallo; Sp. Abadejo.
Three dorsal, two anal fins. Pelvic fins tiny. Tail-fin not forked when
expanded. Lower jaw protruding; no barbel. Lateral line a brown
seam, sharply bent behind pectoral fin. Usually brown on the back,
with gold or orange reflections on the side. Grows to about 20 lb.
COALFISH Pollachius virens M.
Ir. Glasan; Fr. Lieu noir, Charbonni&e; Ge. Kbhler, Seelachs; Du. Koolvis;
It. Merluzzo nero; Sp. Carbonero.
Three dorsal, two anal fins. Pelvic fins tiny. Tail-fin forked. Lower jaw
the shorter in young juveniles, but protruding in larger examples. A
barbel present, but so minute as not to be noticeable. Lateral line a
white stripe, nearly straight (not marked by a white stripe in young
juveniles). Dark green or blackish green above, paler on the sides.
Grows to about 40 lb.

[JOHN1]

It's a coalfish
This is fron the I.S.F.C. Booklet


POLLACK Pollachius pollachius M.
Ir. Mangach; F. Lieu; Ge. Pollack; Du. Pollak; it. Merluzzo, giallo; Sp. Abadejo.
Three dorsal, two anal fins. Pelvic fins tiny. Tail-fin not forked when
expanded. Lower jaw protruding; no barbel. Lateral line a brown
seam, sharply bent behind pectoral fin. Usually brown on the back,
with gold or orange reflections on the side. Grows to about 20 lb.
COALFISH Pollachius virens M.
Ir. Glasan; Fr. Lieu noir, Charbonni&e; Ge. Kbhler, Seelachs; Du. Koolvis;
It. Merluzzo nero; Sp. Carbonero.
Three dorsal, two anal fins. Pelvic fins tiny. Tail-fin forked. Lower jaw
the shorter in young juveniles, but protruding in larger examples. A
barbel present, but so minute as not to be noticeable. Lateral line a
white stripe, nearly straight (not marked by a white stripe in young
juveniles). Dark green or blackish green above, paler on the sides.
Grows to about 40 lb.

Donal what part of this says it's a coalfish if it were a coalfish i would not class a 3.5lb fish as a larger example so the lower jaw part aint right.
if you look close enough at the first picture you can see a curve in the lateral line you can also see part of the lateral line down at the tail end,and the tail is not anymore forked than any other pollack i have ever seen

[FisherKing]

I've been closely checking the pics & it is definitely a Pollock, I caught some over the years which are very silvery in colour from living around sandy areas, there colour matches there feeding grounds.

[seanie35]

It's a coalfish
This is fron the I.S.F.C. Booklet


POLLACK Pollachius pollachius M.
Ir. Mangach; F. Lieu; Ge. Pollack; Du. Pollak; it. Merluzzo, giallo; Sp. Abadejo.
Three dorsal, two anal fins. Pelvic fins tiny. Tail-fin not forked when
expanded. Lower jaw protruding; no barbel. Lateral line a brown
seam, sharply bent behind pectoral fin. Usually brown on the back,
with gold or orange reflections on the side. Grows to about 20 lb.
COALFISH Pollachius virens M.
Ir. Glasan; Fr. Lieu noir, Charbonni&e; Ge. Kbhler, Seelachs; Du. Koolvis;
It. Merluzzo nero; Sp. Carbonero.
Three dorsal, two anal fins. Pelvic fins tiny. Tail-fin forked. Lower jaw
the shorter in young juveniles, but protruding in larger examples. A
barbel present, but so minute as not to be noticeable. Lateral line a
white stripe, nearly straight (not marked by a white stripe in young
juveniles). Dark green or blackish green above, paler on the sides.
Grows to about 40 lb.

Thanks donal i will take your word for it

[Tomaszek]

Hi seanie35 it is certainly a pollack. Look closer at the photo. You will see that the lateral line isn't straight. It is a pollack.

[seanie35]

It's a coalfish
This is fron the I.S.F.C. Booklet


POLLACK Pollachius pollachius M.
Ir. Mangach; F. Lieu; Ge. Pollack; Du. Pollak; it. Merluzzo, giallo; Sp. Abadejo.
Three dorsal, two anal fins. Pelvic fins tiny. Tail-fin not forked when
expanded. Lower jaw protruding; no barbel. Lateral line a brown
seam, sharply bent behind pectoral fin. Usually brown on the back,
with gold or orange reflections on the side. Grows to about 20 lb.
COALFISH Pollachius virens M.
Ir. Glasan; Fr. Lieu noir, Charbonni&e; Ge. Kbhler, Seelachs; Du. Koolvis;
It. Merluzzo nero; Sp. Carbonero.
Three dorsal, two anal fins. Pelvic fins tiny. Tail-fin forked. Lower jaw
the shorter in young juveniles, but protruding in larger examples. A
barbel present, but so minute as not to be noticeable. Lateral line a
white stripe, nearly straight (not marked by a white stripe in young
juveniles). Dark green or blackish green above, paler on the sides.
Grows to about 40 lb.

Hi tommy lateral line dosnt have to be straight plus the fish isnt lying straight on the sand

[chuckaroo]

Hi tommy lateral line dosnt have to be straight plus the fish isnt lying straight on the sand

I was going to say, i have seen coleys with a slight curve in the lateral line, AND with a slightly protruding lower lip. - just like in the photo. but the second photo defo looks moreso like a pollack (for all reasons mentioned above). i retract my earlier statement.. im just not 100% anymore
and regardless, i dont care any more
go and get a better camera seanie! or take better pics. otherwise we could be here all day

[Tomaszek]

seanie35 if you straighten the fish as it lies on the sand the curve on the lateral line will be even more prominent. Also protruding lower jaw screams pollack to me. Shape of the tail is also more in favor of identifying the species as pollack. Also despite very poor photo coloration would suggest pollack over coalfish.

[Tanglerat]

Draw a line down vertically from the eyeball:

On a pollock the scissors of the jaw will meet that line.
On a coalie the sissors of the jaw will be forward of that line.

In others words, the upper& lower jaws of a pollock meet underneath the eye and on a coalie they meet in front of the eye.

I still maintain coalie!

[seanie35]

Draw a line down vertically from the eyeball:

On a pollock the scissors of the jaw will meet that line.
On a coalie the sissors of the jaw will be forward of that line.

In others words, the upper& lower jaws of a pollock meet underneath the eye and on a coalie they meet in front of the eye.

I still maintain coalie!

Back of the net

[cathalger]

It's a coalfish
This is fron the I.S.F.C. Booklet


POLLACK Pollachius pollachius M.
Ir. Mangach; F. Lieu; Ge. Pollack; Du. Pollak; it. Merluzzo, giallo; Sp. Abadejo.
Three dorsal, two anal fins. Pelvic fins tiny. Tail-fin not forked when
expanded. Lower jaw protruding; no barbel. Lateral line a brown
seam, sharply bent behind pectoral fin. Usually brown on the back,
with gold or orange reflections on the side. Grows to about 20 lb.
COALFISH Pollachius virens M.
Ir. Glasan; Fr. Lieu noir, Charbonni&e; Ge. Kbhler, Seelachs; Du. Koolvis;
It. Merluzzo nero; Sp. Carbonero.
Three dorsal, two anal fins. Pelvic fins tiny. Tail-fin forked. Lower jaw
the shorter in young juveniles, but protruding in larger examples. A
barbel present, but so minute as not to be noticeable. Lateral line a
white stripe, nearly straight (not marked by a white stripe in young
juveniles). Dark green or blackish green above, paler on the sides.
Grows to about 40 lb.

Donal what part of this says it's a coalfish if it were a coalfish i would not class a 3.5lb fish as a larger example so the lower jaw part aint right.
if you look close enough at the first picture you can see a curve in the lateral line you can also see part of the lateral line down at the tail end,and the tail is not anymore forked than any other pollack i have ever seen

2ND that, which part says its a coley? The wee white pelvic fins on this fish are more coley like to me, but that isnt enough, theyre brilliant white on a coley at all times BUT they arent clear enough. The tail and mouth say pollack to me, the body looks really coley like, it is a good one but Im with pollack for now. Unfortunately the pics are tricky cos these fish aint confusable with a clear pic. What I can see of the lateral line also says pollack, the arch behind the gills.

[cathalger]

This fish is doin my nut, its a coley with pollack features!!!!! Arrrgh. Hybrid!!! Joke.

Edit- Its a pug nosed coley (excessively undershot jaw) with a pollacks tail and a pollacks lateral line. It should be stuffed as a head wrecker and put above your front door Seanie, to test guests with.

EDIT AGAIN, The 2nd image of this fish is the better one in my opinion, there is no confusion in it really. Its is (in my belief) a picture of a pollack no question. The 1st image is a problem image, its confusing, Seanie did you only take the 2?????

The 2nd image shows pollack colouration and pollack shape. That gub is never like that on a coley regardless of size. Thats what I think.

[nicefish]

Nice fish Sean.

[roryodonnell]

Looks like a coalie, purely based on the eye. Pollack have much bigger eyes, no?

[seanie35]

Looks like a coalie, purely based on the eye. Pollack have much bigger eyes, no?

Agree with ya and a bigger mouth, look at the small dainty mouth on it in picture 2