Paranthias furcifer
Atlantic Creolefish
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)
Paranthias
Paranthias furcifer (Atlantic Creolefish)
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
Small mouth; deeply forked caudal fin; convex head profile; maxilla extends to center of eye, with ventral margin smoothly curved and lacking step or bony knob; supramaxilla rudimentary or absent; canine teeth poorly developed; teeth in oval patch in vomer; preoperculum subangular, with vertical margin and finely serrate posterior section of ventral margin; dorsal margin of operculum slightly convex; 38 gill rakers on first arch (12-14 upper, 24-26 lower); head length 26%-29% SL, body depth 29%-34% SL; pectoral fin bluntly pointed with 19 or 20 rays; dorsal fin IX, 17-19, membrane slightly incised between spines; anal fin III, 8-10 rays; caudal fin with 8 branched rays and 12 or 13 procurrent rays in upper section, and 7 branched rays and 11 or 12 procurrent rays in lower section; midlateral body scales ctenoid; 69-77 lateral line scales; 124-129 scales in horizontal series
Reddish brown, paler ventrally; bright orangish red spot on upper end of pectoral fin base; three widely separated white spots between lateral line and dorsal fin base; two blue stripes on cheek; yellowish green spot on each interspinous dorsal fin membrane; dark green submarginal line on posterior section of dorsal fin
Distribution
North Carolina and Bermuda to southern Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Greater and Lesser Antilles
Throughout the Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Tropical and subtropical Atlantic, between 10 and 128 m; associated with coral reefs and hard substrates
Coral reefs and hard substrates
Biology
Zooplankton (copepods, pelagic tunicates, shrimps and shrimp larvae); feeding takes place in the water column above reefs
Maximum known size is 380 mm TL
Thought to be a protogynous hermaphrodite, but no specimens in transition from females to males have been observed
Inhabits coral reefs and hard bottom areas. Observed in feeding aggregations well above the reef. Feeds mainly in midwater on zooplankton (copepods, pelagic tunicates, shrimps and shrimp larvae). Retreats instantly when alarmed (Ref. 9710).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2017-11-02. Resilience: Medium (K=0.22-0.28).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: subsistence fisheries; gamefish; aquarium: commercial.
References
Smith 1971
Bright and Cashman 1974
Moore 1975a
Smith et al. 1975
Hoese and Moore 1977
Hoese and Moore 1998
Robins and Ray 1986
Bullock and Smith 1991
Cervigón 1991
Boschung 1992
Heemstra and Randall 1993
Randall 1996
Schaldach et al. 1997
Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999
Heemstra 2002c
Randall, J.E. (1967) Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. Miami 5:665-847.
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.
Lieske, E. and R. Myers (1994) Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 p.
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., 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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