Atlantic wreckfish
| Atlantic wreckfish | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Polyprionidae |
| Genus: | Polyprion |
| Species: | P. americanus |
| Binomial name | |
| Polyprion americanus (Bloch and Schneider, 1801) | |
The Atlantic wreckfish, Polyprion americanus, is a marine, bathydemersal, and oceanodromous fish in the family Polyprionidae. It is found in the eastern and western Atlantic Ocean, western Indian Ocean, and the southwest Pacific Ocean. It is also known as stone bass, because it inhabits rocky ledges and wrecks.
Atlantic wreckfish are deep-water fish found on the ocean bottom at depths between 40 and 600 m (130 to 2,000 ft), where they inhabit caves and shipwrecks (thus their name). They are largely solitary fish, but juveniles will school below floating objects. Wreckfish are oviparous fish that spawn in the summer. They do not guard their eggs or young. The diets of Atlantic wreckfish consist mainly of large ocean cephalopods, crustaceans, and other bottom-dwelling fishes. The fish are important as a game fish, reaching a maximum reported length of 210 cm (7 ft) and weight of 100 kg (220 lb). They are also occasionally sold commercially both fresh and frozen.
References
- Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2010). "Polyprion americanus" in FishBase. November 2010 version.
- "Polyprion americanus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved July 6, 2005.
- Sadovy, Y. (2003). "Polyprion americanus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2004. International Union for Conservation of Nature.
- Wreckfish NOAA FishWatch. Retrieved 13 November 2012.