The Spanish hogfish, ''Bodianus rufus'', is a species of
wrasse native to the western
Atlantic Ocean, where it can be found from
North Carolina and
Bermuda through the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
and the
Gulf of Mexico to southern
Brazil. It inhabits
coral or rock
reefs at depths of . While the adults feed on such prey as
molluscs (
snails,
mussel
Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...
s, and
squid
True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting t ...
),
crustaceans (''
Mysis'' and
brine shrimp),
echinoderms
An echinoderm () is any member of the phylum Echinodermata (). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the sea li ...
(
brittle stars and
sea urchins),
worms, and small
fish, the juveniles act as
cleaner fishes. This species can reach a length of , though most do not exceed . This species is of minor importance to local
commercial fisheries and can be found in the
aquarium
An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
trade.
When
Marcus Elieser Bloch named the
genus ''
Bodianus'' he used ''Bodianus bodianus'' as the
type species of the genus, this is a
junior synonym
The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently.
* In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...
of ''Bodianus rufus''.
References
External links
*
Spanish hogfish
The Spanish hogfish, ''Bodianus rufus'', is a species of wrasse native to the western Atlantic Ocean, where it can be found from North Carolina and Bermuda through the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico to southern Brazil. It inhabits coral or roc ...
Fish described in 1758
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Fish of the Atlantic Ocean
Labridae
{{Labridae-stub