Mycteroperca Tigris (Valenciennes, 1833) MKT Frequent Synonyms / Misidentifications: None / None
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click for previous page Perciformes: Percoidei: Serranidae 1359 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 in- dented; 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-yel- low. 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 ven- tral 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 is- lands but not known from the mainland) to south- ern 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 di- ameter 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, in- cluding 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 group- ers 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 posteri- orly; 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 pel- vic 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 fe- males 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.