Gonioplectrus hispanus
Spanish Flag
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Serranidae (Sea Basses and Groupers)
Gonioplectrus
Gonioplectrus hispanus (Spanish Flag)
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
Large antrorse spine at corner of preoperculum and a very large knifelike middle opercular spine; profile of head convex, top of head rugose and not covered with skin or scales; interorbital region convex; maxilla extends to posterior margin of pupil with prominent bony knob on ventral margin; supramaxilla well developed; jaws with band of small, slender, depressible teeth and one to three fixed canines along midlength of lower jaw; preoperculum rounded with fleshy ventral margin; middle spine of operculum extends to or beyond edge of opercular margin; gill rakers on first arch 20-24 (5-7 upper, 14-16 lower); head length 42%-45% SL, body depth 40%-43% SL; pectoral fin broadly rounded with 16 or 17 rays; dorsal fin with 8 spines and 13 rays; anal fin with 7 rays; caudal fin truncate or rounded; scales large and cycloid; lateral line scales 47-49, scales in horizontal series 78-83
Head, body, dorsal fin, and caudal fin yellow with six or seven salmon-colored horizontal stripes on body; bright red blotch on anterior section of anal fin and white blotch on side of belly
Distribution
Western Atlantic from North Carolina to southern Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico, Cuba, and Jamaica
Found throughout the Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Rocky bottoms between 60 and 365 m
Associated with rocky bottoms
Biology
Maximum known size is 27 cm TL
A solitary species (Ref. 26340) inhabiting sandy bottoms and reefs (Ref. 89707). A beautiful and hardy species in the aquarium, prefers cooler waters and not good community dwellers for they are active piscivores (FB user, 27/04/12 ).
Reproductive mode: protogyny; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2016-11-15. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: potential.
References
Colin 1974
Moore 1975a
Robins and Ray 1986
Bullock and Smith 1991
Boschung 1992
Heemstra and Randall 1993
Schaldach et al. 1997
Heemstra 2002c
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.
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
Gasparini, J.L. and S.R. Floeter (2001) The shore fishes of Trindade Island, western South Atlantic. J. Nat. Hist. 35:1639-1656.
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
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