Atlantic Threadfin (Polydactylus octonemus)
Species > Atlantic Threadfin
The Atlantic threadfin is an unusual catch in Florida. We have heard many names referring to this species: threadfish, goatfish, surf runner, and glassnose whiting. Because this species is very uncommon, most have no idea what it is when they catch one.
The Atlantic threadfin lives on sandy and muddy bottoms near beaches and is mostly found in the surf alongside Whiting. They are a subtropical species found in the western Atlantic from New York to Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico and some reports of them as far south as the northern South American coast.
This species is officially said to be 9 inches but we have a catch in Florida at 15 inches. There is not a lot of information on this species, see what NOAA has for a picture of this species. Well we now have more pictures than anywhere else on the internet, all submitted by anglers trying to ID this not so common species.
The herringbone scale pattern is shinny white, the barbells on the chin and the blunt overbite are ways to identify this species.
We have reports that the Atlantic threadfin is excellent table fare, so try it out!
Atlantic Threadfin Catches in Florida
Since this species is uncommon, we decided to record anglers catches. If you found this page in your search to ID your catch, send us the details of your catch and any pictures to be included.
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Date | Beach | County/State | Size | Bait |
---|---|---|---|---|
08/02/2019 | Deerfield Beach Pier | Palm Beach | 9" | Clam fish bites on a pompano rig |
07/20/2019 | Bicentennial Park - Indian Harbor Bch | Brevard | 10" | Fresh Cut Shrimp on a pompano rig |
04/25/2019 | Hobe Sound Beach | Martin | 12" | Pompano rig with sand flea fishbites |
02/25/2019 | Jupiter Beach south of inlet jetty | Palm Beach | ||
01/27/2019 | Hobe Sound Beach | Martin | 15" | |
01/19/2019 | Hobe Sound Beach | Martin | Pompano rig with orange shrimp flavour fishbite | |
01/12/2019 | Beach South of Fort Pierce Inlet | St Lucie | 11" | Combination of dead shrimp and fish bites |
01/03/2019 | Hobe Sound Beach | Martin | 15" | Shrimp - Overcast, windy, rising high tide at 1PM |
12/31/2018 | Melbourne Beach | Brevard | ||
12/30/2018 | Hutchinson Island | Martin | 14" | Incoming tide |
11/28/2018 | Jensen Beach 1st troft | Palm Beach | 13" | Pompano rigs with fish bites at high tide |
10/25/2018 | Hollywood Beach | Broward | Sabiki rig and fish finder rig, both had fishbites shrimp | |
08/30/2018 | Jupiter Beach South of Blowing Rocks | Palm Beach | 8" | On a fly while fly fishing |
08/25/2018 | Fort Pierce surf | St Lucie | 12" | |
08/07/2018 | Hobe Sound Beach | Martin | Dead shrimp | |
08/03/2018 | Melbourne Beach at Bonsteel Park | Brevard | 12" | Frozen shrimp bait on a pompano rig in rough surf |
07/19/2018 | Futch Park Indialantic | Brevard | Dropper loop rig and mole crab | |
07/12/2018 | Cocoa Beach | Brevard | 8" | Rig with 2 oz weight, one hook w/fishbites artificial bloodworm |
07/04/2018 | Indialantic Beach | Brevard | Pompano Rig with crab fishbites at 7 am | |
05/30/2018 | Juno Beach | Palm Beach | 9" | Pompano rig with sand flea Fishbites |
05/21/2018 | Melbourne Beach | Brevard | 12" | Pompano rig with shrimp & fish bites |
02/26/2018 | Sebastian Inlet State Park Beach | Indian River | 8" | Pompano rig with sand fleas |
12/30/2017 | House of Refuge, Stuart | Martin | Whiting rig with fresh dead shrimp fillets | |
12/15/2017 | Jupiter Island S of Coral Cove | Palm Beach | 10" | Pink shrimp Fishbites on a pompano rig |
11/18/2017 | Dania Beach | Broward | 12" | Small frozen squid stripes |
11/07/2017 | Jupiter Beach | Palm Beach | 15" | |
11/04/2017 | Bathtub Beach, Stuart | Martin | 14" | |
10/29/2017 | Lauderdale by the Sea | Broward | 11" | Cut clam and bottom rig |
10/15/2017 | Vero Beach | Indian River | 11" | Cut bait (finger mullet) using a bottom rig |
10/07/2017 | Anglins Pier | Broward | 12" | Shrimp |
07/28/2017 | Fort Pierce Jetty | St Lucie | 11" | |
07/23/2017 | Hobe Sound Beach | Martin | 12" | Orange color Fishbite |
07/06/2017 | Boca Raton Beach | Palm Beach | 12" | Live sand fleas |
05/13/2017 | Fort Pierce Inlet | St Lucie | 8" | Fishbite and dead shrimp on pompano rigs |
05/12/2017 | Patrick Air Force Base Beach | Brevard | 12" | Neutral color shrimp-flavored fishbites on a pompano rig |
05/10/2017 | Melbourne Beach | Brevard | 6" | Shrimp on a pompano rig |
05/09/2017 | Deerfield Beach | Broward | 4" | Cast net on a school of juveniles |
05/06/2017 | Hobe Sound Beach | Martin | 15" | Clam fishbite/dead fresh shrimp combo |
04/11/2017 | Deerfield Beach | Broward | 11" | Small yellow or black rooster-tail |
04/02/2017 | Satellite Beach | Brevard | 8" | Pompano rig with clam flavored Fishbites |
03/17/2017 | Indialantic Beach | Brevard | 8" | Orange and white flea fish bite |
03/12/2017 | Indialantic Beach | Brevard | 8" | Orange clam fish bites |
03/08/2017 | Vero Beach | Indian River | 8" | Clams during low tide |
02/25/2017 | Satellite Beach | Brevard | 10" | Fresh dead shrimp |
01/18/2017 | Sebastian | Indian River | Shrimp | |
01/16/2017 | Singer Island Beach | Palm Beach | 14" | Frozen shrimp |
12/05/2016 | Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Bch | Broward | 6" | Pompano rig with squid strips |
07/03/2016 | Hobe Sound Beach | Martin | 14" | Bait fish pattern fly |
06/15/2016 | Pompano Beach | Broward | Jig with swimming mullet gulp bait | |
04/07/2016 | Blind Creek | St Lucie | 9" | Artificial Bait (FishBites, Sand Flea Scent) |
02/22/2016 | Jensen Beach | Martin | 8" | Artificial bait (fish bite) in the surf |
02/14/2016 | Hobe Sound Beach | Martin | ||
02/06/2016 | Dania Beach | Broward | 10" | Flyfishing with a bait fish pattern (polar fiber fly) |
01/11/2016 | Dania Beach | Broward | ||
12/27/2015 | Hobe Sound | Martin | 15" | Frozen clams |
11/26/2015 | Juno & Jupiter Beach | Palm & Martin | 15" | Artificial strip bait |
10/17/2015 | Boca Inlet from Beach | Palm Beach | 11" | Fishbites sand flea flavor |
08/19/2015 | Jupiter Island | Martin | 10" | Fly casting (released) |
08/09/2015 | Satellite Beach | Brevard | 8" | Cast net |
08/01/2015 | Lake Worth | Palm Beach | Cast net | |
07/26/2015 | Fernandina Beach | Nassau | 13" | Dead peeled shrimp |
07/21/2015 | Sebastian Inlet | Brevard | 10" | Castnet |
02/27/2015 | Juno Beach | Palm Beach | 15" | Fishbites strips |
02/16/2015 | Juno Beach | Palm Beach | 12" | Shrimp |
1/26/2015 | Juno Beach Pier | Palm Beach | Fresh dead shrimp | |
01/02/2015 | Jupiter Beach | Palm Beach | 11" | Clams |
12/28/2014 | Hobe Sound | Martin | 10" | Squid |
08/16/2014 | South Beach | Miami-Dade | 10" | Live shrimp |
08/05/2014 | Surfside Beach, TX | NW Gulf of Mexico | 5" | |
08/05/2014 | Blue Heron Beach | St Lucie | 9" | |
07/27/2014 | West Palm Beach | Palm Beach | 10" | Speargun |
07/05/2014 | Hollywood Beach | Broward | 11" | Live pilchards |
07/02/2014 | Hollywood Beach | Broward | 11" | Live shrimp |
05/26/2014 | Hobe Sound NWR | Martin | ||
05/12/2014 | Vero Beach | Indian River | 11" | Frozen shrimp |
04/20/2014 | Pompano Beach | Broward | 12" | Frozen clams |
04/19/2014 | Juno Beach | Palm Beach | 12" | |
02/26/2014 | Gulfstream Park Beach | Palm Beach | 14.5 | |
02/24/2014 | Ft Pierce, S of Inlet | St Lucie | 11" | Dead live shrimp |
02/11/2014 | Jupiter Beach | Palm Beach | 11" | |
02/04/2014 | Avalon Beach | St Lucie | Frozen shrimp | |
01/18/2014 | Dania Beach | Broward | 15" |
A common comment we receive when an angler finally finds our unique webpage dedicated to reporting Atlantic threadfin sightings: "I had never seen them before and it took me a while to figure out what it was."
Atlantic Threadfin Fillets Are Excellent Eating Resembling Snapper
Phil K.. submitted this image of a 15" Atlantic threadfin fillet caught May 6, 2017 on Hobe Sound Beach. Many anglers have said the threadfin tastes as good, if not better, than snapper!
"I caught two this weekend on the Hobe Sound Beach in Hobe Sound FL. These fish are delicious and I catch them everytime I go fishing. They have a firm white meat and it has a taste similar to snapper. I actually prefer Threadfish over snapper all day!" - Daniel M.
Angler Reports
February 26, 2018
Jack S. caught this threadfin on 2/26/18, at about 6:00 pm using a pompano rig with sand fleas. He estimated it was 8 inches long. It was caught in the Indian River County, in Sebastian off of the Sebastian Inlet State Park Beach.
December 30, 2017
Levi P. caught this threadfin at around 3 pm just south of the House of Refuge in Stuart on a whiting rig with fresh dead shrimp fillets look pretty and white. Thank you guys for the previous information and posts as even after 30 years fishing in Florida on the Treasure Coast this was a new one on me.
December 15, 2017
My boys and I caught two Atlantic Threadfins, 9" and 10", on 12/15/17 surf fishing off Jupiter Island - South of Coral Cove. We used pink shrimp Fishbites on a Pompano rig about 20 yards from shore. Picture attached. The boys were hungry so we fried them for dinner the same evening. Tasty! - Trevor, Ethan, and Tyler Schlueter
November 18, 2017
I caught 6 Polydactylus octonemus from 8” to 12” yesterday 11/18/17 in Dania Beach, FL (John U. Lloyd Beach State Park). I used a hand line with #10 golden hooks rigged with small frozen squid stripes just behind the shore break surf. Two of them had sand fleas in the stomach, one had eaten an anchovy. - Sebastien G.
November 7, 2017
Caught this 15 inch threadfin at Jupiter Beach while fly fishing the surf in the morning on November 7, 2017 - Christopher W.
October 29, 2017 Lauderdale by the sea
I caught this on Sunday about 8:30 pm, with cut clam and bottom rig. As you can see in the second photo, it has 6 drop fins in each side. I saw some 3 drop fins in the past and this is the first time I saw the 6 drop fin one. - Best regards, Chen
October 15, 2017 Vero Beach
Found your site searching for this fish to ID. Never seen it before and two locals from the bait shop who have fished the area for 50 years didn't know what it was either. I caught him on cut bait (finger mullet) using a bottom rig yesterday in the surf while fishing at Vero Beach. Tide was incoming and very rough full of seaweed. Neat to know I caught something unusual. By the way he was about 11 inches in length.- Jimmy S.
July 28, 2017 Fort Pierce South of Jetty
Caught a treadfin surf fishing around 10 am on shrimp south of the Fort Pierce jetty on the beach. Measured 11" long ? 3". Understand that this is unique or not real common. We were catching plenty of whitening as well. Thanks for your site. I figured it was in the whitening family, but had never caught one before. I was surprised at the "meatyness" of this fish for its size! And yes it was tasty. - Sandra M.
July 23, 2017 Hobe Sound Beach
My name is Kevin W, me and my girlfriend Tammy caught 17 of these threadfins ranging from 7" to 12". today (07/23/17) at Hobe Sound Beach,we where there at first light. We where using fresh shrimp and shrimp fb, put a fresh shrimp on one hook and a fb on the other and caught 90% of them on the fb (orange). - Kevin W.
July 6, 2017 Boca Raton Beach
12" Threadfin in Boca at 6 am using live sand fleas. - Manny P.
May 13, 2017 Fort Pierce Inlet
Just identified fish that my dad and I caught from your site. We were fishing about 3 miles south of Fort Pierce Inlet. We caught 3 fish about 6 to 8 inches long. The biggest is in the pic. Fish caught on fishbite and dead shrimp on pompano rigs. Released as did not know what they were. Asked a fisherman we knew next to us that has fished the area all his life and he caught one the day before. He had no idea what they were. Thanks for info. - John H.
May 12, 2017 Patrick Air Force Base Beach
Caught 5 Atlantic Threadfin of 12 inches in length at Patrick Air Force Base Beach on 5/12/17. Bait was shrimp-flavored Fish-Bites, neutral color, on a Pompano Rig at 1 hour after high tide in the near-shore through. The bite was very active for about 30 minutes, then dropped off. - Eugene O.
May 10, 2017 Melbourne Beach
Like you expressed on your website, I stumbled upon your website while researching a fish I caught yesterday. Thank you for the great information on this site. I have fished the coast of Florida my whole life and never seen or talked to anyone who has any knowledge of this fish. I like that your website has a reported catches section on this species. I would like to report that I Steve Stewart caught an Atlantic Threadfin on 5/10/2017 at 7 p.m. off the beach with a piece of shrimp on a pompano rig in the town of Melbourne Beach. I have attached a few photos of my catch.
May 9, 2017 Deerfield Beach
Threw the cast net at a school of what i thought were 3-4 inch croakers today in Deerfield Beach, ended up being Atlantic threadfin. All fish were really small though, didn't see any larger than 4 inches. - Jacob A.
May 6, 2017 Hobe Sound Beach
Caught this 15" Atlantic threadfin on Hobe Sound Beach, Martin County, using clam fishbite/dead fresh shrimp combo. Excellent eating resembling snapper. - Phil K.
April 11, 2017 Deerfield Beach Pier
Hello, I saw your website while researching this fish and wanted to send you a picture. I caught (and released) 2 of these fish on an ultra-light spinning rod with a small yellow or black rooster-tail. Caught this one on 4/11 (5:57PM) in the surf just north of the Deerfield Beach Pier in just a couple feet of water. Not sure the date of the other one but it was around the same date and same spot. They were both about 10-11 inches. - Dan G.
April 2, 2017 Satellite Beach
I caught 3 fish of similar size (approximately 8") on 4/2/2017 in Satellite Beach, Florida. I had no idea what they were & released them. The whiskers are hard to see in the photo, but there were about 8 in total measuring around 2". All 3 fish were caught using a pompano rig with clam flavored Fishbites. - Erik O.
March 17, 2017 Indialantic Beach
I caught another 8" Atlantic Threadfin today while surf fishing on Indialantic Beach in Brevard County using orange and white flea fish bite.- David D.
February 25, 2017 Satellite Beach
Caught a couple of these today on fresh dead shrimp in Satellite Beach. Never seen these before today. Are they good for bait in the surf? It was about 8 to 10 inches. - Haylee B.
January 18, 2017 South of inlet in Sebastian
This is my brothers catch we were confused as to what species it was:/ cool to find out! Anyway we were in Sebastian fl 3 or 4 miles south of the inlet using shrimp while fishing for pompano. The fish was very smooth and was damn near see through. Now this a 16 megapixel camera so you should get a good clear picture. - Mike M.
June 15, 2016 Pompano Beach
Fishing on Pompano beach half way between the commerical pier and pompano pier on 6/15/2016 at about 6:30 PM. I was using a jig with a swimming mullet gulp bait. Caught an Atlantic Threadfin and had no idea what it was. I have been surf fishing in Florida all my life and have never seen one of these. Came home and found it on your site. -Luke Flip
December 5, 2016 Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Beach
Hello, my name is Andrew. Last night while surf fishing a quarter mile north of anglins fishing pier, I caught this fish. I've never seen it before and had a heck of a time figuring out what it was. It was caught using a pompano rig with squid strips. Maybe 50 yards out 4-6 ft of water at roughly 9 pm. 6 inches long.
February 15, 2016 Hobe Sound
I caught two this weekend on the Hobe Sound beach in Hobe Sound FL. These fish are delicious and I catch them everytime I go fishing. They have a firm white meat and it has a taste similar to snapper. I actually prefer Threadfish over snapper all day! -Daniel M.
December 27, 2015 Hobe Sound
Caught 2 of these "glass nose" fish over the weekend. Couldn't figure out what they were. A fellow fisherman came by and said they were glass nose whiting and they ate well so we kept them. Both were caught in Hobe Sound off the beach with frozen clam. One was probably 15" other about 12" We will be back next weekend for more.
October 17, 2015 Boca Raton Beach South of Inlet
Caught on fishbites sand flea flavor near south boca inlet on the beach. Around high tide in the surf. Filleted and baked them, they were very good! Non-fishy white meat similar to whiting.
Had a question, are these regulated at all? Also since they tasted very good, I'm assuming they are safe to eat, correct? Thanks for the webpage, I was stumped on what they were!
Answer: Yes, they are safe to eat and very good! And no, they are not regulated.
August 19, 2015 Jupiter Island
Rosario caught this 10" Atlantic threadfin on Jupiter Island while fly fishing. Rosario released the fish.
August 9, 2015 Satellite Beach
Caught this at Satellite Beach yesterday while cast netting mullet in the surf. Never saw one caught in FL before but recognized it as a Moi, highly sought after Pacific cousin in Hawaii. Running very shallow in the surf at higher ride around 4pm. I cast at a small group of 10 inch mullet that was apparently being chased in the waves by an unseen predatory fish. Approximately 8" long. Stephen C.
July 26, 2015 Fernandina Beach
Caught at Fernandina Beach, FL. It was 13 inches and caught on a piece of dead peeled shrimp by Kenny S.
February 27, 2015
Angler Enamudega sent us pictures of several threadfins and wrote "I've caught these a few times of late from the coast in Juno Beach but this 15" one was big enough to bring home for lunch. Was set up for pompano using Fishbites strips."
February 16, 2015 Juno Beach
Was fishing Juno beach with high low rig and shrimp for bait. When landing the fish I had no idea on the speices or the regulations. I took two photo so I can identify and released it. Was caught on 2/16/15 around 10 am. I did not measure but assume it was 12 inchs. Came across your website when trying to identify the speices. Attached our the two photos. Thanks Chris
January 2, 2015 - Jupiter Beach on the Atlantic Ocean
Caught by Erik Withers on Jan 2, 2015 on Jupiter Beach. Using clams on a pompano rig. Tasted delicious with garlic spinach and risotto rice. See attached for pics- the flip flop is a size men's 11 (for measuring purposes).
August 5, 2014 - Our First Report in the Gulf of Mexico
A forum member posted his Atlantic threadfin catch on www.2CoolFishing.com. This is our first reported catch this year in the Gulf of Mexico. The angler caught it from the beach at Surfside Beach, Texas in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico.
Hi visitors from 2CoolFishing! We just noticed forum member "Cudakilla" posted the biggest Atlantic threadfin we have ever seen! Scroll down to post number 9 to see the record-sized fish.
Aug 5, 2014
John caught 3 approx. 9 inch Atlantic Threadfins about 3 miles south of Ft. Pierce Inlet at the Blue Heron Beach access on August 5, 2014.
July 27, 2014
Shane Burns caught a 12.5" Atlantic threadfin, shot with speargun, on the beach in West Palm Beach. The fish was in a school of about 5 and whiting.
July 6, 2014
Austin Scheinkman reported his catch of 11" threadfins caught over several days on Hollywood Beach in Ft. Lauderdale and he says "these fish seem a regular catch when surf fishing in Hollywood beach. They especially like to feed of the pilchards when they are running along the shores."
July 2, 2014
Joe Stevens caught his Atlantic threadfin at 8:30 PM on the beach in front of the Hollywood Board Walk in Ft Lauderdale using live shrimp.
May 26, 2014
Anthony Burr caught the Atlantic threadfin in Hobe Sound, FL at Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge on Jupiter Island.
April 20, 2014
My girls and I just returned from the beach- surf fishing for Pompano. We couldn't keep these things off the line. We returned about 10 to the ocean. All on frozen clams. Longest was about 12 inches. Never saw one until today. - Jesse Griffith
April 19, 2014
George caught the Threadfin & Whitting 4/19/14 on beach in Juno Beach, FL while Pompano fishing. Both had mature egg roe.
February 26, 2014
Angler Denis Labont captured several Atlantic threadfins while shore fishing .1 mile south of Gulfstream Park Beach in Palm Beach County (south of Boynton Beach). The biggest threadfin was 14.5 inches caught using shrimp. This Quebec City angler said they caught another 12" threadfin back in November and had been searching since to figure out what this fish was.
February 24, 2014
Florida resident Shanon L Chalfin sent us this report:
This morning, Feb 24, I caught an 11 inch Atlantic Threadfin. I have no picture unfortunately. It took me a couple of hours of scouring the internet to ID this fish. Oddly when you Google barbel and belly you get a lot of pages on body piercing. I scoured photos until I found that fish with a transparent nose, barbels between its ventral fins and pretty visible chevron pattern on its side (see picture below) as well as two dorsal a fairly the same size. I caught it in Fort Pierce between Gulfstream and South Beach accesses. About a mile south of the inlet. I found your site when trying to find more info on the fish. Thank you for having your page. This was a very odd fish to catch. Also I had forgotten to mention that it was caught on a day old (never frozen) dead shrimp.
February 11, 2014
Angler Ray Tocci sent in these pictures and wrote "Just caught this threadfin approximately 11inches today off Jupiter beach. Wasn't sure what it was and your site helped us figure it out! Thanks so much!! Here are our pics! "
February 4, 2014
Helene from Montreal, Canada caught this Atlantic threadfin in the surf on Avalon Beach in Fort Pierce using frozen shrimp. Helene wrote "Well, Ed (from New York) and myself (Montreal, Canada) were thrilled to finally ID the fish. Was released to grow up! Send us the link when the photo appears. Thanks."
January 18, 2014
Goran caught several Atlantic Threadfins while surf fishing on Dania Beach, south of Fort Lauderdale. Goran asked us to help ID this species so we posted the pictures on Facebook and with the help of many readers, we were able to determine it is indeed an Atlantic Threadfin. Goran says "Best I can describe it as having bluefish body and drum like snout. Larger one is about 15 inches."
Report Your Catch
If you catch an Atlantic threadfin, please Contact us and tell us where and when you caught one. If you have pictures, send them too!