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Mycteroperca microlepis

(Gag-Velvet Rockfish)

Overview

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Family : Sea basses: groupers and fairy basslets ; Juveniles occur in estuaries and seagrass beds ; adults are usually found offshore on rocky bottom (rarely to 152 m ), occasionally inshore on rocky or grassy bottom. It is the most common grouper on rocky ledges in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Adults are either solitary or in groups of 5 to 50 individuals; feed mainly on fishes , some crabs, shrimps, and cephalopods . Juveniles (less than 20 cm) feed mainly on crustaceans that live in shallow grass beds.

Vulnerable
Threat status

Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in Danish:

Fløjlsbars, Fljlsbars

Common Names in English:

Charcoal Belly, Gag, Gag Grouper, Gag-Velvet Rockfish, Grouper, Velvet Rockfish

Common Names in French:

Badèche Baillou, Badche Baillou

Common Names in Mandarin Chinese:

小鱗喙鱸, 小鱗喙鱸, 小鳞喙鲈

Common Names in Portuguese:

Badejo, Badejo Brando, Badejo-Bicudo, Badejo-Branco, Badejo-Da-Areia, Badejo-De-Areia, Badejo-Salto, Badejo-Saltão, Badejo-Sapateiro, Garoupa, Serigado-Badejo

Common Names in Spanish:

Abadejo, Aguaj, Cuna, Cuna Aguaj

Description

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Family Serranidae

Distribution: Tropical and temperate oceans. Some enter freshwater . Operculum bearing 3 spines - a main spine with one below and one above it. Lateral line complete and continuous, not reaching onto caudal fin (lacking in one species). Dorsal fin may be notched , with 7-12 spines. Three spines on anal fin. Caudal fin usually rounded , truncate , or lunate ; rarely forked . Tip of maxilla exposed even with mouth closed . No scaly axillary pelvic process . One spine on pelvic fin; soft rays 5. Branchiostegal rays usually 7. Vertebrae 24-26. Monoecious with some functional hermaphrodites ; groupers are protogynous hermaphrodites. Anthiinae are mostly small colorful planktivores feeding primarily on tiny crustaceans and fish eggs . They change sex from females to a few dominant males. Despite their attractive colors they need zooplankton as food and are thus not well suited for aquariums . Groupers attain up to 3 m maximum length and weights of up to 400 kg . They are bottom-dwelling predators and highly commercial food fish . Groupers are hardy aquarium fish, but grow rapidly. Grammistinae get their name from a bitter tasting skin toxin , grammistin, which can kill other animals in an aquarium. They feed on crustaceans and fishes .The family Serranidae belongs to the Class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) and the Order Perciformes. It contains 62 genera and 449 species. It may be found in Marine , Brackish , and Freshwater environments and is primarily Marine. Many members of this family are used in the aquarium trade. Reproductively, most members of this family are nonguarders. The main mode of swimming of adult fish in this family is subcarangiform. Compared with other fish, the activity level of this family tends to be normal. Members of this family have been dated back to the Eocene epoch of the Tertiary period. Etymology of this family name : Latin, serranus = derived from saw, fish saw. 1803

Habitat

Typically found in water with a depth of -2,048 to 0 meters (-6,719 to 0 feet).Mean = 2,378.060 meters (7,802.034 feet), Standard Deviation = 1,309.750 based on 69 observations. Ocean depth information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre.

Biome: Brackish water, saltwater . Reef-associated .

Biology

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Sound types : thumps. Sound organ: swim bladder.

Taxonomy

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Ambiguous Synonyms

  1. Trisotropis stomias (non Goode and Bean, 1882)

Unambiguous Synonyms

  1. Mycteroperca microlepis (Goode & Bean, 1879)
  2. Trisotropis microlepis Goode & Bean, 1879

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Mycteroperca

There are approximately 34 species in this genus:

M. acutirostris (Comb Grouper) · M. apua · M. bonaci (Black Gouper) · M. bonaci xanthosticta · M. caliura · M. camelopardalis · M. cidi (Venezuelan Grouper) · M. dermopterus · M. falcata phenax · M. fusca (Comb Grouper) · M. interstitalis · M. interstitialis (Blake) · M. jordani (Grouper) · M. microlepis (Charcoal Belly) · M. nebulifer · M. olfax (Colorado Grouper) · M. perclara · M. phenax (Scamp) · M. prionura (Sawtail Grouper) · M. rosacea (Golden Grouper) · M. rubberina · M. ruber · M. ruberrima · M. rubra (Comb Grouper) · M. semicinctus · M. simonyi · M. sp · M. tigris (Gag) · M. urodelus · M. venenosa (Arigua) · M. venenosa apna · M. venenosa guttata (Arigua) · M. verenosa · M. xenarcha (Broomtail Grouper)

Bibliography

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More Info

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 01, 2008:

Identifiers

Footnotes

Last Revised: 2008-12-31