Kyphosus azureus
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Kyphosidae (Sea Chubs)
Kyphosus
Kyphosus azureus
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: short and / or deep. This species is distinguished by the following characters: interorbital region scaleless; mouth terminal; teeth incisiform; 5-9 vertical dark bands on body; D XI,10-11 rays; A III,10; gill rakers 4-5 + 11-12; 49-55 lateral line scales, of which 45-49 have pores; longitudinal row 43-49 scales; cheek scales 5-6; postorbital scales 7-8; precaudal vertebrae 10, caudal vertebrae 15; pterygiophores, 19-20 on dorsal, 11 on anal (Ref. 95491).
Distribution
Eastern Central Pacific: Monterey Bay in California, USA to Gulf of California.
Habitat Associations
Marine. benthopelagic. depth range 0-8 m.
Biology
Inhabit shallow inshore areas to 8 m depth (Ref. 9310); coastal rocky reefs and reef flats with algal growth (Ref. 95491). Exclusively herbivorous (Ref. 95491). Encountered frequently in schools near Abudefduf troschelii. Pelagic spawner (Ref. 56049). Also caught with harpoons (Ref. 9310).
Max length: 45.0 cm TL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Pelagic spawner (Ref. 56049).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2007-05-23. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
References
Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann (1983) A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p.
Sommer, C. (1995) Kyphosidae. Chopas. p. 1195-1200. In W. Fischer, F. Krupp, W. Schneider, C. Sommer, K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) Guia FAO para Identification de Especies para lo Fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. 3 Vols. FAO, Rome.
Sturm, E.A. and M.H. Horn (1998) Food habits, gut morphology and pH, and assimilation efficiency of the zebraperch Hermosilla azurea, an herbivorous kyphosid fish of temperate marine waters. Mar. Biol. 132(3):515-522.
Shanks, A.L. and G.L. Eckert (2005) Population persistence of California Current fishes and benthic crustaceans: a marine drift paradox. Ecol. Monogr. 75:505-524.
Knudsen, S.W. and K.D. Clements (2013) Revision of the fish family Kyphosidae (Teleostei: Perciformes). Zootaxa 3751(1):001-101.
Patzner, R.A. (2008) Reproductive strategies of fish. pp. 311-350. In Rocha, M.J., A. Arukwe and B.G. Kapoor (eds). Fish reproduction: cytology, biology and ecology. Science Publisher, Inc. Oxford. 631 p.
Comments On Kyphosus azureus