Gurnard
Gurnard or Sea Robin
Scientific names –
Tub or Yellow Gurnard - Chelidonichthys lucerne
Red Gurnard - Chelidonichthys cuculus
Grey Gurnard - Eutrigla gurnardus
Conservation status
There are 3 Gurnards found around the British Isles.
Gurnards are strange looking fish with large bony heads. They use modified fin rays as ‘feeling’ legs as they sense their way around the seabed tasting and feeling for prey.
The Cornwall Good Seafood Guide says ‘For years they were thrown back or used as bait by fishermen’ but are now more popular to eat.
The IUCN list them as of Least Concern on their Red List.
The MCS recommend Avoiding Tub Gurnard as ‘population sizes may be too small and there is no management in place to prevent overfishing’. While populations of both Red and Grey Gurnard are OK but Need Improvement according to the MCS rating.
They also highlight that otter trawls cause damage to the seabed and that bycatch includes some vulnerable species.
Overview
Gurnard are commonly found on sandy sea beds, and occasionally found on rocky substrates, as well as in mud areas from the shoreline down to 140 metres.
Gurnard feed on worms and crustaceans. They are eaten by larger carnivorous fish, including groupers, wrasses, and other predators. Smaller sharks that hunt near the bottom can also be predators of Gurnard.
Red Gurnard have long bodies and a large head with a steep forehead and big eyes. Their colouring is a distinctive bright red mottled with pink. They have one fin along the spine, which is used for swimming. A key characteristic is their individual spiny fin rays on each side of the body, which act as 'fingers' in searching for food on the seafloor. The larger Tub or Yellow Gurnard is normally yellow-ish but can be red or pink - you can identify if a fish is a Tub or Red Gurnard by its large pectoral fins - they are bright blue in Tub Gurnards. The Grey Gurnard is, unsurprisingly, grey in colour. (Wildlife Trust)
Gurnard typically live for between 12 and 16 years.
Sources
IUCN - https://www.iucnredlist.org/search?query=gurnard&searchType=species
Marine Conservation Society - https://www.mcsuk.org/goodfishguide/?search=gurnard&page=1
Cornwall Good Seafood Guide - https://www.cornwallgoodseafoodguide.org.uk/fish-guide/red-gurnard.php
Wildlife Trusts - https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/marine/fish-including-sharks-skates-and-rays/red-gurnard
Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_gurnard
Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_gurnard
Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tub_gurnard