Cephalopholis fulva
Coney
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Serranidae (Sea Basses and Groupers)
Cephalopholis
Cephalopholis fulva (Coney)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Moderately long snout, distinctly incised dorsal fin membranes, two small black spots at tip of lower jaw, and two small spots on dorsal surface of caudal peduncle. Interorbital region is flat. Upper jaw extends beyond posterior margin of orbit and bears bony knob on posteroventral margin. Supramaxilla is well developed. Anterior jaw teeth are small canines. Preoperculum has rounded margin, with shallow notch above angle, serrae along upper margin, and moderately enlarged serrae at corner. Upper edge of operculum is distinctly convex. Gill rakers on first arch number 23 to 27, with 7 to 9 on upper limb and 16 to 18 on lower limb. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 40%–43%, body depth 34%–38%. Pectoral fin is broadly rounded and symmetrically shaped and has 17 to 19 rays. Dorsal fin has nine spines and 14 to 16 rays. Anal fin has 9 rays. Caudal fin has convex posterior margin and angular corners. Scales on lateral body are ctenoid. Lateral line scales number 46 to 54, and scales in horizontal series number 90 to 97.
Color varies with habitat occupied, but all specimens have two large black spots at tip of lower jaw and two black spots on dorsal margin of caudal peduncle. Specimens from deep water are red, those from shallow water are either uniformly orangish brown or orangish brown dorsally and pale tan laterally and ventrally, and those ranging from shallow to deep water are yellow. Red or orangish brown specimens are densely covered with small, dark-edged pale blue spots, but yellow specimens are sparsely covered with small, dark-edged blue spots on head and anterior part of body.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from South Carolina and Bermuda to southern Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Greater and Lesser Antilles.
Found throughout the Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Associated with clear water and frequently occurs on coral reefs, to a depth of 45 m
Coral reefs
Biology
Food consists of crustaceans and small ray-finned fishes
Maximum known size is 390 mm TL
All individuals are protogynous hermaphrodites; females mature at 160 mm SL and transform into males at about 200 mm SL. Eggs are 0.95 mm in diameter, and fecundity ranges from 150,000 to 282,000 eggs per female.
Adults prefer coral reefs and clear water. In the Gulf of Mexico, they are found in clear deep reefs (at least 45 m). At Bermuda and the West Indies, they are common in shallow water, but they usually hide in caves or under ledges during the day. The species is protogynous with females maturing at 16 cm TL and transforming to males at about 20 cm. Males are territorial. Feed mainly on small fishes and crustaceans. May follow morays and snake eels to feed on flushed preys. Wary, but approachable (Ref. 9710).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2018-03-22. Resilience: Medium (tmax=11; K=0.14-0.63; Fec=67,000-280,000).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish; aquarium: commercial.
References
Longley and Hildebrand 1941
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968
Randall 1968a
Randall 1996
Smith 1971 (as Epinephelus fulvus)
Smith et al. 1975 (as E. fulvus)
Hoese and Moore 1977 (as E. fulvus)
Matsuura 1983a
Cordova 1986 (as E. fulvus)
Robins and Ray 1986 (as E. fulvus)
Dennis and Bright 1988a (as E. fulvus)
Cervigón 1991 (as E. [Cephalopholis] fulvus)
Boschung 1992 (as E. fulvus)
Heemstra and Randall 1993
Smith 1997
Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999
Heemstra 2002c
Randall, J.E. (1967) Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. Miami 5:665-847.
Heemstra, P.C. and J.E. Randall (1993) FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 16. Groupers of the world (family Serranidae, subfamily Epinephelinae). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the grouper, rockcod, hind, coral grouper and lyretail species known to date. Rome: FAO. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(16):382 p.
Smith, C.L. (1997) National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
Craig, M.T., YJ. Sadovy de Mitcheson and P.C. Heemstra (2011) Groupers of the world: a field and market guide. North America: CRC Press/Taylor and Francis Group, xix, 356 p., A47 pages appendix. DOI: 10.1201-/9780429087899
Burton, M.L., J.C. Potts and D.R. Carr (2015) Age, growth and natural mortality of coney Cephalopholis fulva) from the southeasternUnited States. PeerJ 3:e825. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.825
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