The graysby (''Cephalopholis cruentata'') is a species 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 h ...

, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is in the

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

Serranidae which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It is found in the western

Atlantic 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 an ...

. It is associated with reefs and is a quarry species for commercial and recreational fisheries.

Description

The graysby has an oblong-shaped, robust body with a long snout and, when the mouth is closed, a slightly protruding upper jaw and a bony protuberance at the

maxilla The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. T ...

. The dorsal profile of the head is flat or slightly convex between its eyes. The majority of the teeth are movable. 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 c ...

contains 9 spines and 13-15 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 8 soft rays. The rounded peropercule has fine serrations on its margin but has no spines or notches, the operculum or gill cover has 3 flat spines, the central spine being the largest and upper spine is longer than the lowest. The caudal fin is rounded while the pelvic fins are shorter than the

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

s. The body is covered in rough scales and there are 69-81 scales in the lateral line. The head, body, and fins are grey, brown or olive in colour and are covered with orange-brown spots and there are normally four spots along their upper back, underneath the dorsal fin which can change colour between black and white. The maximum recorded

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

for this species is , although they are more commonly around , and the heaviest specimen recorded was . A white stripe runs from the tip of the lower jaw, between the eyes and on to the nape.

Distribution

The Graysby is found in the western Atlantic Ocean, 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 ...

and the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an 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 the United ...

. It is found from Cape Fear, North Carolina and

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

south to the Caribbean coast of South America. Claims of this species being recorded from Brazil require confirmation.

Habitat and biology

The graysby inhabits '' Thalassia'' beds and

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

s. In the

, they are found on rocky reef ledge in depths greater than . A solitary and secretive species, they usually stay near hiding places during the day. They prefer to remain within a small area of the home range of about , especially during the day. The graysby is a nocturnal predator, adults feed mainly on fishes, with preference on '' Chromis multilineata'', juveniles feed on shrimps. These fishes are protogynous hermaphrodites they all start life as female to male becoming males in their middle age. Sex change takes place at 4 or 5 years old and at lengths of . The change in sex occurs straight after the

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 aquat ...

period in August and September. The males vigorously guard a

harem Harem ( Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A har ...

which have an average of one male to six female. When spawning, a female will releases between 260 and 600 eggs and the male then releases his

milt Milt is the seminal fluid of fish, mollusks, and certain other water-dwelling animals which reproduce by spraying this fluid, which contains the sperm, onto roe (fish eggs). It can also refer to the sperm sacs or testes that contain the seme ...

to fertilise them. They can live for up to 13 years. It is parasitized by '' Pseudorhabdosynochus meganmarieae''.

Taxonomy

The graysby was first formally described in 1802 as ''Sparus cruentatus'' by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède (1756-1825) with the type locality given as the Antilles and

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

Utilisation

The graysby is a quarry species for both commercial fisheries and for anglers. It makes up 11% of the commercial reef-fish catch in Curacao and it was taken by line, trap and spear fisheries in Honduras in the past but constitutes only a small part of the total reef-fish catch in Honduras. It is common around Cuba where it is not an important quarry species for fisheries. In the United States the fisheries for this species fall under the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council and both commercial and recreational fisheries have a close season which runs from 1 January to 30 April.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2638163 Graysby Fauna of the Southeastern United States Fish of the Caribbean Fish of Cuba Fish of the Dominican Republic Fish described in 1802