Hogchokers are plentiful year round residents of the Chesapeake Bay, from tidal freshwater regions to the mouth of the Bay; and they are bottom-dwellers in low and deep waters with a silty, sandy, or muddy bottom.
Hogchokers eat worms and crustaceans and they hunt by lying half-buried in bottom sediments, and changing colours to blend in with their surroundings, whereas both eyes look up for their prey.
They spawn from May through September in inshore waters and young hogchokers are born with one eye on each side of the top; and when they are larvae the left eye travels over the top of the head to a location next to the right eye.
Other facts about the hogchoker are: unusual name “hogchoker” comes from farmers who used to feed these fish to their hogs; and the hogs would often choke on the fishes scaly and bony bodies. They are one of the most abundant fish in the Chesapeake Bay, although they are nearly unfeasible to spot when they hide themselves in the Bay’s bottom sediments. They are believed to be a “right-handed” flat fish as their mouth and eyes are on the right side of the body when sight from above; and they can live up to seven years. *
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