Issue
This species is synonym of Kyphosus vaigiensis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825) according to Knudsen et al. (2013: Ref. 95491). The species page will be removed if proven to be not valid; please send references.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; reef-associated; depth range 1 - 15 m (Ref. 95687). Subtropical; 42°N - 34°S, 98°W - 23°E
Western Atlantic: Cape Cod, Massachusetts (USA) to Brazil. Also found in Argentina (Ref. 86336). Eastern Atlantic: Madeira Island (Ref. 74541), São Tiago Island (Cape Verde) and Angola (Ref. 7373); Sao Tome Island (Ref. 30488).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 90.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 6547); common length : 45.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3725); max. published weight: 3.9 kg (Ref. 40637)
Dorsal spines (total): 11; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13 - 15; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 12 - 13. grey with longitudinal brassy stripes on body and 2 brassy horizontal bands on head. Opercular membrane slightly pigmented. Each jaw with a regular row of close-set, strong, incisor-like, round-tipped teeth of a peculiar hockey-stick shape, their bases set horizontally, resembling a radially striated bony plate inside mouth (Ref 52729).
Inhabits shallow waters, especially over rocky bottoms in coral reef areas; also among floating Sargassum weeds (Ref. 3725). Feeds on algae including much Sargassum (Ref. 5521). Marketed fresh (Ref. 3725).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
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. (Ref. 7251)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes
Tools
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 23.1 - 28.1, mean 27.2 °C (based on 980 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01585 (0.00773 - 0.03248), b=3.02 (2.83 - 3.21), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 2.0 ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Assuming tm>4).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): High to very high vulnerability (66 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 22.2 [7.9, 36.8] mg/100g; Iron = 0.517 [0.274, 0.887] mg/100g; Protein = 19.3 [18.1, 20.6] %; Omega3 = 0.129 [0.067, 0.243] g/100g; Selenium = 16.3 [6.9, 38.1] μg/100g; VitaminA = 29.4 [7.0, 115.5] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.995 [0.647, 1.519] mg/100g (wet weight);