The black margate (''Anisotremus surinamensis''), also known as black bream, black thicklip, dogfish, lippe, Mexican bull, pompon, Spanish grunt, surf bream, sweetlips or thicklip grunt, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

, a

grunt Grunt, grunts or grunting may refer to: Sound and music * Grunting (tennis), in tennis refers to the loud noise, sometimes described as "shrieking" or "screaming", made by some players during their strokes * Death grunt, the death metal singin ...

belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Haemulidae Haemulidae is a family of fishes in the order Perciformes known commonly as grunts. It is made up of the two subfamilies Haemulinae (grunters) and Plectorhynchinae (sweetlips), which in turn contain about 133 species in 19 genera. These fish ar ...

. It is native to the western

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

Description

The black margate has a deep, compressed body with a high back and a short, blunt head. The mouth is positioned low on the head, it is horizontal with fleshy lips and the jaws are equipped with bands of teeth on both jaws. The outer band of teeth are conical in shape. It has a greyish-silver body which is darker on the anterior half than the posterior half. The dorsal scales have black centres and the fins are dark grey, the

pelvic The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton). The ...

and

anal Anal may refer to: Related to the anus *Related to the anus of animals: ** Anal fin, in fish anatomy ** Anal vein, in insect anatomy ** Anal scale, in reptile anatomy *Related to the human anus: ** Anal sex, a type of sexual activity involvin ...

fins being the darkest. There is a darker pt h to the rear of the pectoral fins. The juveniles have a black stripe along the lateral line and another along the upper back, and a large black spot on base of tail fin. the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

has 12 spines and 18 soft rays while the anal fin contains 3 spines and 9 soft rays. There is a deep notch in the dorsal fin and the fourth dorsal spine is longer than the others while the second anal spine is also very large. The black margate reaches a maximum total length of , although a total length of is more typical, while the heaviest specimen recorded was .

Distribution

The black margate is found in the warmer parts of the Western Atlantic Ocean. It is found in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

from

Cape Canaveral , image = cape canaveral.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991 , map = Florida#USA , map_width = 300 , type =Cape , map_caption = Location in Florida , location ...

south through the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and e ...

to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

, including the Flower Garden Banks, from

Rockport, Texas Rockport is a city in Aransas County, Texas, United States. The population was 8,766 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat. Rockport is adjacent to the town of Fulton, and many refer to the combined communities as "Rockport-Fulton"; howeve ...

along the coast of Mexico to the northern Yucatan Peninsula and northwestern Cuba. It occurs throughout the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

then and along the northern and eastern coasts of South America to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

in Brazil. It also occurs at the

Fernando de Noronha Fernando de Noronha () is an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the State of Pernambuco, Brazil, and located off the Brazilian coast. It consists of 21 islands and islets, extending over an area of . Only the eponymous main island is inha ...

and Trinidade Island.

Habitat and biology

The Black margate shows a preference for steep, sloping rock substrates or rock reefs in inshore waters down to depths of . It frequently takes shelter in caves, ledges and within wrecks. It is normally encountered either as small groups or individuals. It is a nocturnal feeder, it’s diet including crustaceans, molluscs, smaller fish and urchins. A frequent item in its diet are sea urchins in the genus '' Diadema''. They may gather in

spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquati ...

aggregations and, off Jamaica, breeding adults have been reported between April and August. Larvae and young juveniles have been observed settling on rocky seabed’s off Florida.

Systematics

The black margate was first formally described in 1791 as ''Lutjanus surinamensis'' by the German naturalist Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723–1799) with the type locality given as

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

Utilisation

The black margate is occasionally caught and marketed by fisheries, although the consumption of the flesh of larger fishes has been linked to cases of ciguatera poisoning. They are also found in the aquarium trade.

References

External links

Marinespecies.org
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2711102 Black margate Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish described in 1791