Hyporthodus niveatus
No common name
NS
G4
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)
Hyporthodus
Hyporthodus niveatus
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: fusiform / normal. Distinguished by the following characteristics: Dark margin on spiny dorsal fin and dark saddle on caudal peduncle that extends below lateral line (Ref. 26938); juveniles with pale yellow caudal and pectoral fins; black saddle blotch on the caudal peduncle reaching below lateral line; depth of body contained 2.4-2.8 times in SL; head length 2.2-2.4 times in SL; convex interorbital area, width less than or subequal to eye diameter; enlarged serrae at angle of preopercle; distinctly convex upper edge of operculum; posterior nostrils 2-5 times larger than anterior nostrils (Ref. 89707). Striking features: none.
Distribution
Western Atlantic: Canada (Ref. 5951) to Massachusetts, USA to southern Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.
Habitat Associations
Marine. demersal. depth range 30-525 m. Found in: lakes.
Biology
Adults occur well offshore on rocky bottoms. Juveniles may be found inshore and are often reported from the northeastern coast of the U.S (Ref. 89707). Adults feed on fishes, gastropods, cephalopods, and brachyuran crustaceans (Ref. 5222). Valuable commercial food fish (Ref. 26938).
Max length: 122.0 cm TL; common length: 60.0 cm TL; max weight: 30000 g; max age: 27 years.
Reproductive mode: protogyny; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. The size (76.7-109 cm) and age (8-29 yr) of 97 male specimens and the capture of two specimens undergoing sex change provided conclusive
evidence that snowy grouper are protogynous hermaphrodites (Ref. 45886).
IUCN Red List Status: Vulnerable (VU), assessed 2016-11-21. Resilience: Low (K=0.07-0.09; tmax=27).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish.
References
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.
Claro, R. (1994) Características generales de la ictiofauna. p. 55-70. In R. Claro (ed.) Ecología de los peces marinos de Cuba. Instituto de Oceanología Academia de Ciencias de Cuba and Centro de Investigaciones de Quintana Roo.
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. and P.A. Hastings (2007) A molecular phylogeny of the groupers of the subfamily Epinephelinae (Serranidae) with revised classification of the epinephelini. Ichthyol. Res. 54:1-17. DOI: 10.1007/s10228-006-0367-x
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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