Atlantic Spadefish
Atlantic Spadefish (Chaetodipterus faber) is a saltwater species. The first thing to check: a very deep, round, strongly compressed silver body — nearly as tall as it is long. The look-alike to rule out is Sheepshead: sheepshead carry similar bars but on a normal fish-shaped body, and have protruding incisor teeth at the front of the mouth.
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| Scientific name | Chaetodipterus faber |
|---|---|
| Also called | spadefish, angelfish, white angel |
| Water | Saltwater |
| Group | Spadefish |
| Temperature | Common between 70 and 85 °F. |
How to identify an Atlantic Spadefish
- A very deep, round, strongly compressed silver body — nearly as tall as it is long.
- Four to six black vertical bars that fade with age until large fish look almost plain.
- A tiny mouth and long trailing front lobes on both the dorsal and the anal fin.
If you would rather not work through a key on a wet deck, photograph the fish and let the app name it — you get the common and the scientific name back, and the record is filed before you release.
Fish it is mistaken for
| Species | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Sheepshead | Sheepshead carry similar bars but on a normal fish-shaped body, and have protruding incisor teeth at the front of the mouth. |
| Angelfish | True angelfish lack the vertical barring and carry a strong spine on the lower gill cover. |
Read the full entry for Sheepshead.
Where it lives
Atlantic and Gulf coasts over wrecks, buoys, towers, piers and nearshore structure, usually in tight schools suspended in the water column.
Temperature
Common between 70 and 85 °F.
The conditions that matter
Spadefish feed on jellyfish and drifting plankton rather than baitfish, so they hold up in the current above structure where the drift brings food to them. Clean water and a steady current are what make a wreck fishable for them; slack water breaks the school up.
Global Fishing League records 18 weather and water readings against every catch automatically — tide stage, barometric pressure, water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, swell, current, moon phase and more, taken at your GPS position at the moment you log the fish. Over a season that turns a hunch about atlantic spadefish into a pattern you can read.
See every reading recorded with a catch, or the guides to what each reading means.
Size limits, bag limits and seasons
Size limits, bag limits, slot limits and seasons are set by your state wildlife agency — and for many offshore and migratory species by federal regulators — and on many waters they differ from the statewide rule. They also change between seasons. Check the current regulations for the exact water you are fishing before you keep a fish — we do not republish limits here, because a number that is a season out of date is worse than no number.
What the app does do is make your side of it accurate: every catch carries a length measured from the photograph, a GPS position and a timestamp, exportable if you ever need to show your work for a tournament or a record claim. It is also what a Global Fishing League entry is built from — a record that verifies itself, without publishing where you caught the fish.