| Malacanthus plumieri | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Malacanthidae |
| Genus: | Malacanthus |
| Species: | M. plumieri |
| Binomial name | |
| Malacanthus plumieri (Bloch, 1786) | |
| Synonyms [2] | |
| |
Malacanthus plumieri, the sand tilefish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a tilefish belonging to the family Malacanthidae. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean.
Malacanthus plumieri has a highly elongated, slightly compressed body with a slender, rounded head. There is a large, sharp spine at the corner of the gill cover. [3] This species varies in colour from yellowish white to pale bluish gray. The head has pale yellow and bluish markings. The dorsal and anal fins are long. The caudal fin is lunate and is mainly yellow in colour with a dark blotch on the lower part of the upper lobe. [4] This species has 4–5 spines and 53–57 soft rays in its dorsal fin while the anal fin has 1 spine and 50–52 soft rays. The maximum recorded total length is 70 cm (28 in), although 50 cm (20 in) is more typical. They can weigh up to 1 kg (2.2 lb). [2]
Malacanthus plumieri is found in the western Atlantic Ocean. It ranges from Cape Lookout in North Carolina and Bermuda in the north southwards along the coast of the United States to the Bahamas, into the Gulf of Mexico where it has been recorded from the Florida Keys, along the shoreline of the Florida panhandle as far as eastern Louisiana, the Flower Garden Banks and the surrounding area, it also occurs from Tuxpan and along the Yucatan Peninsula and around Cuba. It can be found widely in the Caribbean Sea, and on the coast of Brazil from the mouth of the Amazon River mouth south to Uruguay. They are absent from the coasts from the mouth of the Orinoco River to the Amazon. It is also known from Trindade Island off Brazil and Ascension Island in the eastern Atlantic. [1]
Malacanthus plumieri is found at depths between 3 and 153 m (10 and 502 ft). [1] it is mainly a benthic inhabitant of shallow waters where the substrate is predominantly rubble or sand. Here it creates mounds of rubble or shell fragments in the vicinity of reefs and beds of sea grass. When alarmed it dives head first into its mound. They feed mainly on stomatopods, fishes, polychaetes, chitons, sea urchins, starfish, amphipods and decapods, especially shrimp. [2] It spends long periods hovering over its mound, undulating the long dorsal and anal fins. [4] They are territorial, the territories of males overlap with those of the females. They spawn as pairs, the male approaches the female in an undulating motion, the pair then rises up the water column in a crisscrossing pattern, ending with the pair swimming while quivering with the gametes being released at the zenith. [5]
Malacanthus plumieri was first formally described in 1786 as Coryphaena plumieri by the German naturalist Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723–1799) with the type locality given as the Antilles. [6] When George's Cuvier created the genus Malacanthus he named Bloch's Coryphaena plumieri as its type species. [7] The specific name honours the Franciscan friar and naturalist Charles Plumier (1664–1704), Bloch based his description of this species on a drawing by Plumier. [8]
Malacanthus plumieri is eaten fresh, and it is normally caught as bycatch. [1] It also occasionally appears in the aquarium trade. [2]
Tilefishes are mostly small perciform marine fish comprising the family Malacanthidae. They are usually found in sandy areas, especially near coral reefs. They have a long life span, up to 46 years (females) and 39 years (males).
The cherubfish, also known as the pygmy angelfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a marine angelfish belonging to the family Pomacanthidae. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean.
Hoplolatilus starcki, Stark's tilefish, purple-headed sand tilefish or bluehead tilefish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a tilefish belonging to the family Malacanthidae. This species is native to the central Indo-Pacific.
Hoplolatilus marcosi, the redback sand tilefish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a tilefish belonging to the family Malacanthidae. It is native to the western central Pacific Ocean.
Cynoscion is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family, Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. These fishes are found off the coasts of North and South America in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans. Many fishes in this genus have been given the common name weakfish.
Pareques acuminatus, commonly known as the high-hat, donkeyfish, cubbyu, Steindachner's ribbonfish, streaked ribbonfish, striped ribbonfish or striped drum, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the genus Pareques in the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. This species is found in the western Atlantic Ocean.
The ocean whitefish, also known as the ocean tilefish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a tilefish belonging to the family Malacanthidae. It is native to the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Caulolatilus cyanops, the blackline tilefish or ocean whitefish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a tilefish belonging to the family Malacanthidae. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean.
The Gulf bareye tilefish, also known as the anchor tilefish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a tilefish belonging to the family Malacanthidae. It occurs in the western Atlantic Ocean.
The blue blanquillo, Malacanthus latovittatus, also known as the banded blanquillo, striped blanquillo, false whiting, sand tilefish or eye of the sea, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a tilefish belonging to the family Malacanthidae. It is found in the Indo-Pacific.
Chaetodipterus is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Ephippidae, the spadefishes. These fishes are found in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans.
Branchiostegus is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes, tilefishes belonging to the family Malacanthidae. They are found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean through the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific Ocean. Here they create burrows in soft substrates in the comparatively deep waters of the continental shelf and slope.
Malacanthus is a small genus of tilefishes, family Malacanthidae. They are native to the western Atlantic Ocean and the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Pareques is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. These fishes are found in the western Atlantic Ocean and eastern Pacific Ocean.
Lonchurus is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. These fishes are found in the Western Atlantic.
Malacanthus brevirostris, the quakerfish, flagtail blanquillo, false whiting or stripetail tilefish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a tilefish belonging to the family Malacanthidae. It has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution.
Scorpaena plumieri, the spotted scorpionfish, is a species of venomous marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes. It is found in the Atlantic Ocean.
Caulolatilus chrysops, the Atlantic goldeneye tilefish or gold face tilefish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a tilefish belonging to the family Malacanthidae. It occurs in the western Atlantic Ocean.
The yellowtail croaker, also known as the yellowtail jewfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. This species is found in the southwestern Pacific Ocean off northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It is the only species in the monospecific genus Austronibea.
Protosciaena is a small genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. These fishes are found in the Western Atlantic Ocean.
