fish

Checklists of Exmoor's Wildlife

In 1996 ENHS produced The Flora and Fauna of Exmoor National Park listing 8243 species which had been recorded. (Now out of print). Since then there have been a number of additions published annually in Exmoor Naturalist magazine. The following lists show what we have recorded so far and it is hoped there will be future updates.

Algae	Amphibians	Beetles
Birds	Bryophytes	Diptera
Fish	Fleas	Fungi
Hymenoptera	Lepidoptera	Lichens
Mammals	Maritime	Other Creatures
Plants	Reptiles	Spiders

Fish Exmoor rivers and Bristol Channel off Exmoor Coast
Allis Shad	Alosa alosa	A legally protected species with is rare in Bristol Channel off Exmoor.
Angler Fish (Frogfish)	Lophius piscatorius	Rare.
Bass	Dicentrarchus labrax	Scarce off Exmoor Coast. Fishermen off Lynmouth had unusually large catches in 2001.
Blenny, Montagu's	Coryphoblennius galerita	Scarce.
Blenny, Tompot	Blennius gattorugine	Scarce.
Blenny, Yarrell's	Chirolophis ascanii	Scarce.
Brill	Scophthalmus rhombus	Scarce.
Bullhead	Cottus gobio	Frequent under stones in medium sized streams and rivers on Exmoor.
Coalfish or Coley	Pollachius virens	Scarce.
Cod	Gadus morhua	Common.
Cod, Poor	Trisopterus minutes	Frequent.
Dab	Limanda limanda	Common.
Dogfish, Gtr. Spotted or Bull Huss	Scyliorhinus stellaris	Common.
Dogfish, Lsr. Spotted	Scyliorhinus canicula	Very Common.
Dover Sole	Solea solea	Scarce.
Eel	Anguilla anguilla	Widespread records from North to South Exmoor and Porlock/Minehead Marsh areas. Elvers seen in streams.
Eel, Conger	Conger conger	Common.
Five-bearded Rockling	Ciliata mustela	Scarce.
Flounder	Platichthys flesus	Fairly common.
Garfish	Belone belone	Scarce.
Goby, Common or Sand	Pomatoschistus microps	Fairly common in rock pools.
Goby, Two-spot	Chapparudo flavescens	Rare, rockpools.
Golden Orfe	Leuciscus idus	Released domestic fish in Dunster Hawn Pool c1990s.
Grayling	Thymallus thymallus	Records from the Barle and Exe rivers.
Great Pipefish	Syngnathus acus	Scarce.
Gurnard, Grey	Eutrigla gurnardus	Rare.
Gurnard, Red	Aspitrigla cuculus	Rare.
Gurnard, Tub	Trigla lucerna	Scarce.
Haddock	Melanogrammus aeglefinus	Scarce.
Hake	Merluccius merluccius	Scarce.
Halibut	Hippoglossus hippoglossus	Scarce.
Herring	Clupea harengus	Less common than formerly.
John Dory	Zeus faber	Rare.
Koi Carp	Cyprinus sp.	Some Koi Carp were released into Dunster Hawn pond (1990s?) in an ill-advised bid to clear the algae. They increased with detrimental ecological effects and have presented the management with problems.
Lamprey, Brook	Lampetra planeri	Only recorded from Aller Water. No records since 1995.
Lamprey, River	Lampetra fluviatilis	No records since 1980.
Ling	Molva molva	Fairly common in season.
Lumpsucker	Cyclopterus lumpus	Uncommon.
Mackerel	Scomber scombrus	Common in season.
Minnow	Phoxinus phoxinus	In slow moving water. Shoals frequently seen at edges of some of the larger rivers e.g. Barle.
Monkfish	Squatina squatina	Rare.
Mullet, Red	Mullus surmuletus	Scarce.
Mullet, Thick-lipped Grey	Chelon labrosus	Rare.
Mullet, Thin-lipped Grey	Liza ramada	Scarce.
Plaice	Pleuronectes platessa	Common.
Pogge or Armed Bullhead	Agonus cataphractus	Rare.
Pollack	Pollachius pollachius	Common.
Porbeagle	Lamna nasus	Rare.
Pouting	Trisopterus luscus	Fairly common.
Ray, Blonde	Raja brachyura	Fairly common.
Ray, Small-eyed/Painted	Raja microcellata	Fairly common. Record 17 lbs. 2003.
Ray, Spotted	Raja montagui	Fairly common.
Ray, Sting	Dasyatis pastinaca	Rare.
Ray, Thornback	Raja clavata	Common.
Ray, Undulate	Raja undulata	Scarce.
Rudd	Scardinius erythropthalmus	In slow-moving water. Minehead, Alcombe and Dunster Marsh.
Salmon	Salmo salar	Regular runs up the larger rivers.
Sand Eel, Lesser	Ammodytes tobianus	Common.
Scad or Horse Mackerel	Trachurus trachurus	Common in season.
Sea or Fifteen-spined Stickleback	Spinachia spinachia	Rare.
Sea-bream, Black	Spondyliosoma cantharus	Rare.
Sea-bream, Red	Pagellus bogaraveo	Scarce.
Shore Clingfish or Cornish Sucker	Lepadogaster lepadogaster	Scarce.
Skate, Common	Raja batis	Occurs in Bristol Channel.
Smooth-hound	Mustelus mustelus	Scarce.
Smooth-hound, Starry	Mustelus asterius	Frequent.
Sprat	Clupea sprattus	Occasional shoals but not common.
Spur Dogfish	Squalus acanthias	Common in season.
Stone Loach	Noemacheilus barbatulus	Believed to be in Exmoor Waters but no current reports. Rare.
Sun Fish	Mola mola	Scarce, several seen 1994 & 1995.
Tench	Tinca tinca	Scarce.
Ten-spined Stickleback	Pungitius pungitius	Recorded from Minehead and Dunster Marshes but no doubt have decreased in numbers.
Three-bearded Rockling	Gaidropsarus vulgaris	Common.
Three-spined Stickleback	Gasterosteus aculeatus	Formerly at Porlock and Minehead Marsh but no doubt much decreased.
Tope	Galeorhinus galeus	Common in summer.
Trigger-fish, Grey	Balistes carolinensis	Rare in British waters but in some years several may turn up as in 1995.
Trout, Brown	Salmo trutta fario	Abundant in most Exmoor waters.
Trout, Rainbow	Salmo gairdneri	Occasionally escapes from fish farms and reservoir stock.
Trout, Sea	Salmo trutta	Regular runs up the larger rivers.
Turbot	Scophthalmus maximus	Common in season.
Twaite Shad	Alosa fallax	Rare.
Weever, Lesser	Trachinus vipera	Scarce.
Whiting	Merlangius merlangus	Common in season.
Wrasse, Ballan	Labrus bergylta	Scarce.
Wrasse, Cuckoo	Labrus mixtus	Scarce.