Look for the following species:
Silversides (Menidia menidia) – An attractive, slim bodied fish with a distinct silver band down its sides. Similar to the Rainbow Smelt in size and color, but has two dorsal fins and lacks the adipose fin. Common in warm water areas in NS (eg. Minas Basin).
Northern Pipefish (Syngnathus fuscus) - Closely related to the seahorses found in warmer waters. Resembles a seahorse, but has a slimmer body and swims like a normal fish rather than in an upright fashion like a seahorse. The body is covered in bony plates. They feed by sucking up fish eggs, larvae, and small animals through their tube mouth; their two jaws are fused together to form a tube. As in seahorses, the male broods the eggs and the young. The female deposits the eggs in brood pouch of the male. The eggs hatch in about 10 days, but remain in the pouch until they reach a length of 8 or 9 mm when they are released.
Rainbow Smelt (Osmerus mordex) – slender, silvery fish about 15 – 20 cm long. Has an adipose fin. An anadromous fish (i.e., a marine fish that returns to fresh water to spawn.
Flounder - There are several species., but the one we are most likely to see is the smooth flounder (Liopsetta putsarmi) a "flat fish". Flatfish swim upright when young, but when about 3 inches in length, they start to swim on one side and gradually come to lie on that side. The skull twists and the lower eye moves to the upper surface. This is caused by one side of the skull growing more rapidly than the other. They are specialized bottom feeders. You can often see slight depressions in the mud at low tide - feeding holes made by flounders.