Pareques acuminatus
High-Hat
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Sciaenidae (Drums and Croakers)
Pareques
Pareques acuminatus (High-Hat)
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. This species is distinguished from its congeners in the western Atlantic by the following characters: lateral line pored scales 44-49; scales above lateral line 6 and below 8; straight white stripes 8, usually wider than black stripes on sides; chin with 5 pores. Colouration: submarginal white stripe on soft dorsal fin, no dark bar between eyes, body with 3-5 broad dark horizontal stripes and narrow stripes in between, no wide transverse dark bar from dorsal-fin origin almost to pelvic-fin base (Ref. 128874).
Distribution
Western Atlantic: from Virginia and the Gulf of Mexico to Cuba and Puerto Rico (Central Caribbean), and to Colombia (northern South America).
Habitat Associations
Marine. reef-associated. depth range 1-100 m. Found in: seagrass beds.
Biology
Occurs in clear waters of tropical islands, especially near coral reefs, but also in adjacent bays over rough bottom. Also often found under eroded edges of seagrass beds (Ref. 26938). Juveniles of about the same age, often in groups of 3-7, were observed in very shallow water under ledges or near sand pockets close to reef crevices, The young are usually found in small groups of the same age, in very shallow water under ledges or near sand pockets close to reef crevices,but may also be found in deeper water. Adults occurs among rocks, under ledges, inside caves and, eventually in the open. The species is mainly nocturnal, spending the day sheltered and feeding at night on sand, mud, and rubble bottoms close to the reef, feeding on crustaceans, polychaetes, small bony fishes, and zooplankton (Ref. 128874). Has been reared in captivity (Ref. 35420).
Max length: 23.0 cm TL; common length: 18.0 cm TL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Oviparous (Ref. 240).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2023-07-11. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Randall, J.E. (1967) Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. Miami 5:665-847.
Thresher, R.E. (1984) Reproduction in reef fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd., Neptune City, New Jersey. 399 p.
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.
Carvalho-Filho, A., C. Oliveira, L. Maximiano, J. Tavera, A.P. Acero and A.P. Marceniuk (2022) Review of the Pareques acuminatus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) species complex, with revalidation of Pareques lineatus (Cuvier, 1830) from the Western Atlantic (Percomorphacea: Sciaenidae). Zootaxa 5195(5):401-418. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5195.5.1
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