Mycteroperca Tigris (Valenciennes, 1833) MKT Frequent Synonyms / Misidentifications: None / None

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Mycteroperca tigris (Valenciennes, 1833) MKT Frequent synonyms / misidentifications: None / None. FAO names: En - Tiger grouper; Fr - Badèche tigre; Sp - Cuna gata.

Diagnostic characters:Body depth contained 3.1 to 3.6 times, head length 2.5 to 2.8 times in standard length (for fish 19 to 43 cm standard length). Rear nostrils of adults 3 to 5 times larger than front nostrils. Teeth large, canines well developed. Preopercle without a projecting bony lobe at ‘corner’. Gill rakers on first arch short, 8 (including 5 or 6 rudiments) on upper limb, 15 to 17 (including 7 to 9 rudiments) on lower limb, total 23 to 25. Dorsal fin with 11 spines and 15 to 17 soft rays, the interspinous membranes distinctly indented; anal fin with 3 spines and 11 soft rays; soft dorsal and anal fins pointed, with middle rays elon- gate in large adults; caudal fin rounded in juveniles, truncate to emarginate with exserted rays in fish 60 to 80 cm; pectoral-fin rays 17. Midlateral body scales ctenoid in juveniles, smooth in adults; lateral-line scales 82 or 83;lateral-scale series about 120.Colour: adults greenish brown to brownish grey with close-set, small, brown or orange-brown spots, the interspaces forming a pale green or whitish network; head and body darker dorsally, with 9 to 11 alternating oblique pale stripes and broader dark bars; median fins with irregular pale spots and stripes; pectoral fins pale yellow distally; inside of mouth reddish orange or dusky orange-yellow. Live coloration of small juveniles (3 to 10 cm standard length) yellow, with blackish brown midlateral stripe from tip of lower jaw through eye and along body almost to caudal fin, the stripes of left and right sides do not meet on lower jaw, and become fainter with growth, being mostly obscured by the dark oblique dorsal bars on the body of fish larger than 20 cm standard length.Small juveniles may show the oblique dark bars of adults as a stress pattern. Size: Maximum total length 100 cm; maximum weight at least 10 kg. Habitat, biology, and fisheries: On coral reefs and rocky bottom in 10 to 40 m. The size/sex distribution of Bermuda and Puerto Rican fish indicates that M. tigris is a protogynous hermaphrodite: all fish less than 37 cm were females, and all fish larger than 45 cm were males. A spawning aggregation was observed at Puerto Rico in February 1992. Males in courtship displayed a pale yellow to bronze head, pectoral fins black with yellow tip, anal-fin base and area on body above anal fin white. Females exhibited the usual colour and pattern, but a white blotch like that of males was displayed at the time of spawning, when the female rose off the bottom to join a male hovering 1 to 2 m above the bottom and displaying an intensely pale head and white ventral area. Gametes were released as the fish came together a few metres above the bottom. Annual fecundity estimates for 13 females 255 to 375 mm standard length ranged from 154 030 to 986 217 oocytes per fish. Sexual maturity is estimated to be attained at 2 years (25 cm standard length) and a fish of 42 cm standard length is 9 years old. A sedentary am- bush predator that feeds almost exclusively on a wide variety of fishes. Of commercial interest in the Caribbean. Caught with traps, hook-and-line, and with spears. Distribution: Bermuda; south Florida, Gulf of Mexico (common on the Flower Garden Banks off Texas), West Indies, Venezuela (oceanic islands but not known from the mainland) to southern Brazil. 1360 Bony Fishes

Mycteroperca venenosa (Linnaeus, 1758) MKV Frequent synonyms / misidentifications: None / None. FAO Names: En - Yellowfin grouper; Fr - Badèche de roche; Sp - Cuna de piedra.

Diagnostic characters: Body depth contained 2.9 to 3.2 times, head length 2.6-2.9 times in standard length (for fish 15 to 54 cm standard length); in standard length. Nostrils subequal or rear nostrils about twice diameter of anterior nostrils. Interorbital area convex; preopercle evenly rounded or with a slight notch, but no projecting bony lobe at angle.Gill rakers on first arch 8 to 10 on upper limb, 17 to 18 on lower limb, including 4 to 7 rudiments on each limb, total 24 to 27. Dorsal fin with 11 spines and 15 or 16 soft rays, the interspinous membranes distinctly indented; anal fin with 3 spines and 10 to 12 soft rays; soft dorsal- and anal-fin margins rounded; no exserted fin rays; caudal fin truncate in juveniles, concave in adults; pectoral-fin rays 16 to 18. Midlateral body scales ctenoid in juveniles, smooth in adults, with numerous auxil- iary scales;lateral-line scales 72 to 81;lateral-scale series 111 to 125. Colour: 2 colour morphs:a deep-water reddish form and a shallow-water greenish form; head and body with oblong dark blotches overlying groups of small black spots; ventral part of head and body with dark red spots; soft dorsal, anal, and caudal fins with dark margin and white edge; distal third of pectoral fins abruptly yellow, the basal part of fin with small irregular dark spots. Habitat, biology and fisheries: Juveniles occur in shallow turtle grass beds; adults usually found on rocky and coral reefs in depths of 2 to 137 m, but has also been taken in trawls over mud bottoms in the northern Gulf of Mexico.Spawning occurs at Bermuda in July, in the Florida Keys during March, in the eastern Gulf of Mexico from March to August, at Jamaica from February to April and off Puerto Rico in April.Batch fecundity estimates of vitellogenic eggs for 2 fish, 696 and 725 mm standard length, are 2.0 X 106 and 2.8 X 106 respectively.Ripe males as small as 54 cm standard length were found in the Florida Keys population. The food at 18 to 75 cm standard length was 95% fishes (mainly coral reef species ) and 4% squids. One of the most abundant groupers in the Caribbean. Although often implicated in ciguatera poisonings (as its name implies), a desirable foodfish;and even large fish (5 to 10 kg) from localities considered safe are readily sold in markets.Caught with traps, spears, and hook-and-line. Size: Attains at least 100 cm total length. The 2002 all-tackle record of the International Game Fish Association is a 18.48 kg fish caught off Texas. Distribution: Bermuda, North Carolina, south Florida, Gulf of Mexico (rare), West Indies, Hon- duras, Nicaragua, Venezuela (common at Islas Los Roques and Blanquilla) to São Paulo, Brazil. Remarks: Local Names: Bermuda: red rockfish, princess rockfish;Cuba:bonaci cardenal, arigua, bonaci de piedra; Venezuela: cuna cucaracha, cuna cabrilla. Perciformes: Percoidei: Serranidae 1361

Paralabrax dewegeri (Metzelaar, 1919) Frequent synonyms / misidentifications: Serranus dewegeri Metzelaar, 1919 / None. FAO names: En - Vieja; Fr - Serran vieux; Sp - Mero viejo.

Diagnostic characters: Body depth contained 2.3 to 2.9 times, head length 2.2 to 2.6 times in standard length (for fish 12 to 35 cm standard length). Anterior nostril a short tube with fimbriate flap posteriorly; posterior nostril with a low fimbriate flange. Interorbital area flat; preopercle evenly rounded, finely serrate;upper spine on opercle blunt and inconspicuous, middle and lower spines sharp and exposed.Maxilla naked, reaching vertical at centre of eye; no supramaxilla; jaws with short, conical teeth; villiform teeth on vomer and palatines. Gill rakers on first arch on upper limb 7, lower limb 14 (including 4 rudiments), total 21. Dorsal fin with 10 spines and 13 or 14 soft rays, the third and fourth spines distinctly longer than others and about equal to longest dorsal rays; the interspinous membranes distinctly indented; anal fin with 3 spines and 7 soft rays; soft dorsal and anal fin margins rounded; caudal fin truncate, with 15 branched rays; pectoral-fin rays 17. Midlateral body scales ctenoid; lateral-line scales 55 to 58; lateral-scale series 75 to 85.Colour: dorsal part of head and body mottled with irregular spots of dark brown and greenish white;ventral part of body with 6 or 7 dark brown or blackish vertical bars that reach almost to the ventral midline and are wider than the greenish white interspaces. Sides of head with rounded, brownish orange spots (some joined) on a pale greenish background.A row of small, rounded, blackish spots from rear end of maxilla to base of pelvic fins. Throat dusky yellow. Pectoral fin greyish brown, the base with a round dark brown spot followed by a white area and 4 spots forming a dark brown semicircle. Rear margin of caudal fin orange dorsally, the rest of fin with round greyish spots;margin of soft dorsal fin orange, rest of fin with round greyish spots like the spinous dorsal and anal fin. The colours of juveniles more vivid and more distinctly contrasting. Size: Maximum about 40 cm and a weight of 1.3 kg. Habitat, biology, and fisheries: Found in a variety of habitats from shore to 50 m; juveniles occur in seagrass beds; adults are common in 10 to 25 m among soft corals. Feeds mainly on crustaceans (crabs and shrimps) and also fishes, molluscs, worms, and brittle stars. A protogynous hermaphrodite, with females mature at 11 cm standard length. Flesh ex- cellent, but not of much commercial importance because of its relatively small size (compared to most groupers), and it is usually caught in small numbers. Caught with traps and hook-and-line. Distribution: Venezuela to northeast Brazil (Fortaleza).Most abundant on the northeast shelf of Venezuela and nearby islands (Margarita, Coche, and Cubagua); not known from the off- shore islands. 1362 Bony Fishes

Paranthias furcifer (Valeciennes, 1828) TIF Frequent synonyms / misidentifications: None / None. FAO names: En - Creolefish (AFS: Atlantic creolefish); Fr - Badèche créole; Sp - Cuna lucero.

Diagnostic characters: Body oblong, fusiform, the depth contained 2.9 to 3.4 times, head length 3.4 to 3.98 times in standard length (for fish 12 to 28 cm standard length). Mouth small, the maxilla not reaching past vertical at centre of eye; upper jaw more protrusile than in other groupers; supramaxilla rudimentary or absent; no knob or step on lower edge of maxilla; teeth on jaws small, the canines rudimentary; palatines and vomer with villiform teeth. Interorbital convex; preopercle subangular, the vertical edge and rear half of lower edge finely serrate;nostrils subequal.Gill rakers on first arch long, no rudiments, 12 to 14 on upper limb, 24 to 26 on lower limb, total 37 to 38. Dorsal fin with 9 spines and 17 to 19 soft rays, interspinous membranes only slightly indented;anal fin with 3 spines and 8 to 10 soft rays;caudal fin deeply forked,the middle rays less than half length of upper or lower caudal lobes; pectoral fin about equal to head length and distinctly longer than pelvic fins; pectoral-fin rays 19 to 21. Lateral body scales ctenoid (rough); lateral-line scales 69 to 77; lateral-scale series120 to 129. Colour: head and body reddish brown, paler ventrally; bright orange-red spot at upper end of pectoral-fin base; 3 widely-spaced white spots between lateral line and dorsal-fin base; 2 blue lines on cheek, one approximately horizontal and tangent to lower edge of eye, the other along upper edge of maxilla and continued onto lower part of cheek; yellow-green spot on each interspinous dorsal-fin membrane and continued onto soft-rayed part of fin as a dark green submarginal line. Size: Maximum about 35 cm fork length. Habitat, biology, and fisheries: Coral reefs and hard bottom areas in depths of 10 to 64 m. Usually observed in feeding aggregations well above the reef. Feeds on zooplankton, mainly copepods, pelagic tunicates, shrimps and shrimp larvae. Ripe fish were found at Bermuda in May and June, at Jamaica in January and March, and at the Florida middle grounds from April to October. Batch fecundity estimates for 2 females 218 and 289 mm standard length were 177 378 and 640 066 oocytes respectively.Because of its small size, not of much interest as a foodfish, but commonly used for bait.In Venezuela, usually caught in traps, which is surpris- ing for a fish that feeds on zooplankton. Distribution: Bermuda, South Carolina, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, throughout West Indies and from Panama to Brazil. The eastern Pacific species, Paranthias colonus (Valenciennes, 1855) was synonymised with P. furcifer by C.L. Smith (1971), but Heemstra and Randall (1993) showed significant differences in the mean numbers of dorsal- and anal-fin rays for these two taxa. Johnson and Keener (1984) compared the configuration of the spinelets on the elongated second dorsal- and pelvic-fin spines of Atlantic and Pacific larvae and found notable differences that ‘seem to offer morphological evidence for taxonomic separation of the Atlantic and Pacific populations of P. furcifer’. Perciformes: Percoidei: Serranidae 1363

Plectranthias garrupellus Robins and Starck, 1961 Frequent synonyms / misidentifications: None / None. FAO names: En - Apricot bass.

Diagnostic characters: Depth of body at first dorsal-fin spine 29 to 42% standard length. Head relatively large, its length 40 to 44% standard length.In specimens greater than about 4 cm standard length, orbit longer than snout, horizontal diameter of bony orbit 10 to 12% standard length.Lower limb of preopercle with 1 to 3 antrorse spines. Jaws with mostly conical teeth; canine or canine-like teeth present anteriorly in both jaws; vomer and palatines with teeth; vomerine teeth in a chevron-shaped patch without a posterior prolongation; endopterygoids and tongue toothless. The two nostrils on each side of head close together; internarial distance 7 to 14 times in snout length; anterior nostril at distal end of short tube, posterior border of tube not produced into a long slender filament. Snout and most of lower jaw without scales; maxilla with or without scales which may be embedded and difficult to see. Gill rakers on first arch 4 to 6 on upper limb and 10 to 13 on lower limb, total 14 to 18. Dorsal fin single, not divided to base at junction of spinous and soft portions, but fin may appear notched at junction. Dorsal fin with 10 spines and 15 to 17, rarely 17, soft rays. Anal-fin length 27 to 37% standard length. Anal fin with 3 spines and 7 soft rays. Caudal fin truncate or nearly so. Pelvic fin relatively short, 22 to 30% standard length. Pectoral fin with 12 to 14 rays. Lateral line continuous, not interrupted;tubed scales in lateral line 28 or 29. Circum-caudal-peduncular scales 12 to 14, usually 14. Colour: dorsal parts of body and head red-orange; lateral and ventral parts of body and head mostly rosy; lateral aspect of body with numerous flecks of dull yellow-orange; considerable dull yellow-orange on cheek;iris of eye mostly rosy;spinous dorsal fin red-orange;soft dorsal, anal, and caudal fins yellow;pelvic fins mostly pallid, but with some yellow. Size: Maximum standard length to about 7 cm. Habitat, biology, and fisheries: Known from depths of 13 to 375 m. Consumes crustaceans. Females with vitellogenic oocytes have been taken off the east and west coasts of Florida during August to September. This species is probably a protogynous hermaphrodite. Distribution: North Carolina to the Straits of Florida, off the Bahamas and Cuba, and from the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the eastern and west- ern Caribbean Sea. Probably more widespread than museum collections suggest. 1364 Bony Fishes

Pronotogrammus martinicensis (Guichenot, 1868) Frequent synonyms / misidentifications: Holanthias martinicensis (Guichenot, 1868) / None. FAO names: En - Roughtongue bass; Fr - Coné langue rugueuse; Sp - Cachucho lengua rasposa.

Diagnostic characters: Body moderately deep, depth of body at first dorsal-fin spine 33 to 42% standard length. Head moderate, its length 31 to 37% standard length in specimens greater than about 5 cm standard length. Orbit longer than snout, horizontal diameter of bony orbit 9 to 13% standard length in specimens greater than about 5 cm standard length. Each jaw with a series of conical teeth; canine or canine-like teeth present anteriorly in both jaws;vomer and palatines with teeth;vomerine tooth patch with a well-developed posterior prolongation; endopterygoids with teeth in about 30% of specimens examined; tongue with large oval patch of teeth.The 2 nostrils on each side of head fairly close together;internarial distance 5 to 8 times in snout length; posterior border of anterior nostril produced into slender filament (usually falling well short of orbit when reflected). Most of head, including maxilla, heavily covered with scales. Gill rakers on first arch 9 to 13 on upper limb and 24 to 29 on lower limb, total 34 to 41.Dorsal fin single, not incised at junction of spinous and soft portions. Dorsal fin with 10 spines and 13 to 16, usually 15, soft rays. Anal-fin length 30 to 39% standard length.Anal fin with 3 spines and 7, very rarely 8, soft rays. Caudal fin crescen- tic, outer principal rays of both upper and lower lobes slightly to fairly well produced.Upper caudal-fin lobe 28 to greater than 51% standard length.Lower caudal-fin lobe 28 to greater than 58% standard length. Pel- vic fin relatively short, 25 to 35% standard length. Pectoral fin with 16 to 18, usually 17, rays. Lateral line continuous, not interrupted; tubed scales in lateral line 35 to 41, usually 38 to 40. Circum-caudal-peduncular scales 18 to 22. Colour: body and head red-orange to rosy; iris of eye red-orange, orange, yellow, or greyish green; yellow or greenish yellow stripe from anterior end of snout run- ning ventral to eye out onto opercle; 2 yellow-green stripes radiating posteriorly from orbit in some specimens; body may have golden or yellow stripes and yellow-green bars; dorsal, anal, and caudal fins mainly orange to red-orange, often with some greenish yellow admixture. Size: Maximum standard length to about 17 cm, commonly to 10 cm standard length. Habitat, biology, and fisheries: Known from depths of 55 to 230 m. Often found in association with clumps of Oculina or Madrepora.Con- sumes ostracods, copepods, and pteropods. Ripe females collected in Gulf of Mexico in Feb- ruary, March, April, and July. This species is a protogynous hermaphrodite. Distribution: Bermuda and North Carolina to southern Brazil, including West Indies, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea. Perciformes: Percoidei: Serranidae 1365

Hypoplectrus aberrans Poey, 1868 En - Yellowbellied hamlet. Maximum size about 13 cm.Widespread in Florida Keys and West Indies, occasional elsewhere in Caribbean, not in Bahamas.

Hypoplectrus chlorurus (Cuvier, 1828) HCO En - Yellowtail hamlet; Fr - Hamlet queue jaune. Maximum size about 13 cm.Widespread but not common in Caribbean from West Indies to Venezuela and into the Gulf of Mexico to Texas.

Hypoplectrus gemma (Goode and Bean, 1882) En - Blue hamlet. Maximum size about 13 cm.Common in south Florida and the Florida Keys and rare in the Bahamas.Not found elsewhere.

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