Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps
Tilefish
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Malacanthidae (Tilefishes)
Lopholatilus
Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps (Tilefish)
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.
Distribution
Western Atlantic: Nova Scotia, Canada south along the U.S., Gulf of Mexico from the Florida Keys, Tampa (Florida) to the Texas/Mexico border, and off Mexico from Tabasco to the Yucatan Peninsula, and along South America from the Gulf of Cariaco (Venezuela) to Suriname (R. Robertson and J. Dooley pers. comm. 2013).
Habitat Associations
Marine. demersal. depth range 80-540 m.
Biology
Most common around 200 m, usually over mud or sand bottom and occasionally over rough bottom (Ref. 9988); prefers temperature of 8-17°C (Ref. 5951). Feeds mainly on shrimp and crabs, but also takes fish, squid, bivalves and holothurians. Sensitive to cold water (Ref. 9988), a mass die-off occurred in 1882, after which the species was rare for decades, presumably due to unusually cold water (Ref. 7251). Marketed fresh or frozen; can be steamed, pan-fried, broiled, microwaved and baked (Ref. 9988).
Max length: 125.0 cm TL; common length: 90.0 cm TL; max weight: 30000 g; max age: 35 years.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; nonguarders.
IUCN Red List Status: Endangered (EN), assessed 2013-01-29. Resilience: Low (K=0.09-0.13; tm=5; tmax=35; Fec=195,000).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish.
References
Dooley, J.K. (1978) Branchiostegidae. In W. Fischer (ed.) FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. West Atlantic (Fishing Area 31). Volume 1. FAO, Rome.
Cervigón, F., R. Cipriani, W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, M. Hendrickx, A.J. Lemus, R. Márquez, J.M. Poutiers, G. Robaina and B. Rodriguez (1992) Fichas FAO de identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca. Guía de campo de las especies comerciales marinas y de aquas salobres de la costa septentrional de Sur América. FAO, Rome. 513 p. Preparado con el financiamento de la Comisión de Comunidades Europeas y de NORAD.
Grimes, C.B., C.F. Idelberger, K.W. Able and S.C. Turner (1988) The reproductive biology of tilefish, Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps Goode & Bean, from the United States Mid-Atlantic Bight, and the effects of fishing on the breeding system. Fish. Bull. 86(4):745-762.
Grimes, C.B., K.W. Able and R.S. Jones (1986) Tilefish, Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps, habitat, behavior and community structure in Mid-Atlantic and southern New England waters. Environ. Biol. Fishes 15(4):273-292.
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.
Aiken, K.A., B. Collette, J. Dooley, R. Kishore, J. Marechal, F. Pina Amargos and S. Singh-Renton (2015) Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T16545046A16546277. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T16545046A16546277.en. Downloaded on 25 January 2017.
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