Lachnolaimus maximus
Hogfish
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GNR
Collection Details
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Labridae (Wrasses)
Lachnolaimus
Lachnolaimus maximus (Hogfish)
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
Very deep bodied; long, pointed snout; first several dorsal fin spines extended as filaments; mouth has a longitudinal fold extending from upper lip and covering posterior section of mouth; anterior jaw teeth are strong, caninelike, and directed anteriorly, and posterior teeth are short, stout, and arranged in a single row; preopercular margin is membranous; gill membranes are connected and joined to isthmus; gill rakers on first arch number 15 to 17; measurements (% SL): head length 33%–37%, snout length 11%–13%, eye diameter 7%–8%, upper jaw length 12%–15%, pectoral fin length 20%–23%, body depth 43%–50%; pectoral fin has 15 or 16 rays; dorsal fin is deeply notched and has 14 spines and 11 rays; anal fin has 3 spines and 10 rays; caudal fin is emarginate in juveniles and lunate in adults; body and much of head are covered with cycloid scales; lateral line is complete and consists of 32 to 34 pored scales
Color is variable but typically mottled brownish red, with a black spot at end of dorsal fin; large males are abruptly maroon on upper half of head and nape, and median fins are blackish along bases; juveniles are gray, reddish brown, or mottled gray and reddish brown, with a black blotch on posterior aspect of dorsal fin
Distribution
Western Atlantic from North Carolina and Bermuda to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Greater and Lesser Antilles
Found throughout the Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Deep reefs and open bottoms where gorgonian soft corals are abundant
Biology
Food consists of sea urchins, bivalve mollusks, gastropods, barnacles, pelecypods, crabs, and hermit crabs
Maximum known size is 100 cm TL
A large and economically valuable species, monandric and a protogynous hermaphrodite (Ref. 93709). Adults are found over open bottoms or coral reef areas (Ref. 5217). Often encountered where gorgonians are abundant (Ref. 13442). Feed mainly on mollusks, also crabs and sea urchins (Ref. 3726). Flesh highly esteemed; marketed fresh and frozen (Ref. 3726). Have been reared in captivity (Ref. 35420).
Reproductive mode: protogyny; fertilization: external; mating system: polygyny; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Monandric (no primary males) , protogynous hermaphrodites. Sex change is postmaturation; it is initiated among individuals 30-40 cm LF (or 3-5 yrs) but was also observed in fish as large as 69.4 cm LF (13 yrs). Sex change occurred after one more spawning (as a female) seasons and requires several months to complete (Ref.74380). Harem spawner (Ref.74381). Spawning activity is characterised by the following event called 'spawning rush': 1) pectoral swim up, 2) tail swim, 3) swin alongsode and tilt, 4) release, 5) circle and display, and 6) swim down (Ref. 74381).
IUCN Red List Status: Vulnerable (VU), assessed 2009-02-04. Resilience: Medium (K=0.09; Fec=100,000; tm=1.1).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish; aquarium: commercial.
References
Longley and Hildebrand 1941
Gunter 1944
Randall and Böhlke 1965
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968
Randall 1968a, 1996
Hastings et al. 1976
Sonnier et al. 1976
Hoese and Moore 1977, 1998
Hastings 1979
Castro-Aguirre and Márquez-Espinoza 1981
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Schaldach et al. 1997
Smith 1997
Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999
Westneat 2002a
Bardach, J.E. (1959) The summer standing crop of fish on a shallow Bermuda Reef. Limnol. Oceanogr. 4:77-85.
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.
Lieske, E. and R. Myers (1994) Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 p.
Randall, J.E. (1996) Caribbean reef fishes. Third Edition - revised and enlarged. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd., Hong Kong. 3nd ed. 368 p.
García-Cagide, A., R. Claro and B.V. Koshelev (1994) Reproducción. p. 187-262. In R. Claro (ed.) Ecología de los peces marinos de Cuba. Inst. Oceanol. Acad. Cienc. Cuba. and Cen. Invest. Quintana Roo (CIQRO) México.
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.
Bowman, R.E., C.E. Stillwell, W.L. Michaels and M.D. Grosslein (2000) Food of northwest Atlantic fishes and two common species of squid. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-NE 155, 138 p.
Colin, P.J. (1982) Spawning and larval development of the hogfish, Lachnolaimus maximus (Pisces: Labridae). Fish. Bul. U.S. 80:853-862.
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