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Mycteroperca phenax

Mycteroperca phenax (SEFSC Pascagoula Laboratory; Collection of Brandi Noble, NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC )

Cladus: Eukaryota
Supergroup: Opisthokonta
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Osteichthyes
Classis: Actinopterygii
Subclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Superordo: Acanthopterygii
Ordo: Perciformes
Subordo: Percoidei
Superfamilia: Percoidea
Familia: Serranidae
Subfamilia: Epinephelinae
Genus: Mycteroperca
Species: Mycteroperca phenax

The scamp (Mycteroperca phenax) is a protogynous grouper also know as Brown Grouper or Abadejo. It is normally found in reef over ledges and high-relief rocky bottoms in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and at low-profile bottoms at depths of 30 to 100 m in North Carolina. Juveniles can be found as high north as Massachusetts in shallow water at jetties and mangrove areas. This species was the most abundant grouper in areas of living Oculina coral formations at depths of 70 to 100 m off the east coast of Florida. The scamp grouper apparently moves inshore when bottom temperature fell below 8.6°C. Commonly, the scamp is 30.0 cm long with which makes it a relatively small member of the groupers but a specimen has been reported at 107 cm. [2]

The fish's overall coloration is a deep tan or chocolate brown, with numerous darker markings that form dots, or lines, or groups of lines. [3]

Fishing

The scamp is a popular game and commercial fish and is high prized among the grouper family. Its meat is white in color, sweet in taste and has excellent food value. [3]

References

^ Rocha, L., McGovern, J.C., Craig, M.T., Choat, J.H., Ferreira, B., Bertoncini, A.A. & Craig, M. (2008). Mycteroperca phenax. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 23 Jun 2011.
^ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2011). "Mycteroperca phenax" in FishBase. 6 2011 version.
^ a b "Scamp grouper". allfishingbuy.com. Retrieved 23 June 2011.

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Source: Wikipedia, Wikispecies: All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License