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A Virtual Museum on the State's Fish Biodiversity

Pterycombus brama

Atlantic Fanfish
NS GNR
Collection Details

Specimens

Photos

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Records

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes) Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri) Bramidae (Pomfrets) Pterycombus Pterycombus brama (Atlantic Fanfish)

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. It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting. When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page. Learn more about our species accounts.

Characters

Teardrop shaped in lateral profile; dorsal fin originating over head; dorsal and anal fins high and sail-like; dorsal profile of head moderately rounded; posterior naris slitlike and slightly larger than anterior naris; mouth terminal with lower jaw projecting beyond upper jaw; jaw teeth consist of outer irregular row of enlarged, recurved canines and inner band of villiform teeth; posterior margin of preoperculum entire to slightly serrated in adults but with graduated spines in juveniles; gill rakers on first arch number one or two on upper limb and five to seven on lower limb; measurements (% SL): head length 24%–29%, snout length 5%–7%, eye diameter 7%–11%, snout to dorsal fin origin 14%–22%, snout to anal fin origin 28%–40%, body depth 23%–36%; pectoral fin with 20 to 22 rays; dorsal fin with 48 to 53 rays; pelvic fin short and inserting anterior to pectoral fin base; anal fin with 40 to 43 rays; dorsal and anal fins fully depressible into grooves; scales on head lack vertical spines; lateral scale rows number 48 to 53; predorsal scales number 10 or 11; vertebrae number 48 to 51 (21 to 23 precaudal and 25 to 28 caudal)
Color of dorsum and flanks dark with silvery sheen

Distribution

Western Atlantic from Newfoundland to the Greater Antilles, including the northern and southern Gulf of Mexico and the Bahamas
Gulf of Mexico

Habitat Associations

Tropical to temperate Atlantic, between 25 and 300 m

Biology

Maximum known size about 450 mm TL
Lives down to a depth of 400 m (Ref. 35388). Seasonal migrant (Ref. 6697). Maximum depth reported taken from Ref. 94863.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders. Breeding takes place all year-round (Ref. 6697).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-01-29. Resilience: Low (Assuming tmax>10).

Commercial or Environmental Importance

Fisheries: minor commercial.

References

Mead 1972
Murdy et al. 1983
Robins and Ray 1986
Thompson and Russell 1996
Thompson 2002a
Haedrich, R.L. (1986) Bramidae. p. 847-853. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2.
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.
Muus, B.J. and J.G. Nielsen (1999) Sea fish. Scandinavian Fishing Year Book, Hedehusene, Denmark. 340 p.
González-Lorenzo, G., J.F. González-Jiménez, A. Brito and J.A. González (2013) The family Bramidae (Perciformes) from the Canary Islands (Northeastern Atlantic Ocean), with three new records. Cybium 37(4):295-303. DOI: 10.26028/cybium/2013-374-010

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