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Mycteroperca phenax Jordan & Swain, 1884

Scamp
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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Mycteroperca phenax   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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United States (contiguous states) country information

Common names: Scamp
Occurrence: native
Salinity: brackish
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Present offshore and inshore south of Cape Hatteras (Ref. 37512). Also from coast of North and Central America, from North Carolina to Venezuela (Ref. 89707). Also Ref. 276, 26280.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Heemstra, P.C. and J.E. Randall, 1993
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Perciformes/Serranoidei (Groupers) > Epinephelidae (Groupers)
Etymology: Mycteroperca: Greek, mykter, -eros = nose + Greek, perke = perch (Ref. 45335);  phenax: Most probably a misspelling of the specific epithet because based on Labrus guaza Loefling 1758:104 (type locality: Cumana, Venezuela) (see CofF)..
  More on authors: Jordan & Swain.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; reef-associated; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 30 - 100 m (Ref. 5222), usually 30 - 100 m (Ref. 5222).   Subtropical; 41°N - 8°N, 98°W - 25°W (Ref. 5222)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Central Atlantic: Gulf of Mexico and east coast of US from North Carolina to Key West and along the southern shore of the Caribbean Sea. Juveniles are occasionally found as far north as Massachusetts.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 33.2  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 107 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 89707); common length : 30.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3708); max. published weight: 14.2 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 21 years (Ref. 6846)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 11; Dorsal soft rays (total): 16 - 18; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 10 - 12. Distinguished by the following characteristics: four color patterns, first is brown phase with head and body pale brown covered with small reddish brown spots that extend onto median fins, second is cat's paw phase with pale brown body color with dorsolateral parts of body having several clusters of dark brown spots resembling the paw print of a cat, third is with large adults with grey-head phase with the rear two-thirds of the body dark, head and body anterior to the 6th dorsal-fin spine in silvery grey with dark reticulations and fourth is bicoloured phase with pale brown anteriorly and abruptly dark chocolate brown posteriorly; depth of body contained 3.0-3.4 times in SL; head length 2.6-3.0 times in SL; convex interorbital area; angular preopercle, angle with distinct bony lobe; serrate interopercle and subopercle; posterior nostrils of adults 2-4 times larger than anterior ones (Ref. 89707).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found over ledges and high-relief rocky bottoms in the eastern Gulf of Mexico; at low-profile bottoms at depths of 30 to 100 m in North Carolina; 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. This species apparently moved inshore when bottom temperature fell below 8.6°C. Juveniles found in shallow water at jetties and in mangrove areas.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Heemstra, P.C. and J.E. Randall, 1993. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 16. Groupers of the world (family Serranidae, subfamily Epinephelinae). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the grouper, rockcod, hind, coral grouper and lyretail species known to date. Rome: FAO. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(16):382 p. (Ref. 5222)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Data deficient (DD) ; Date assessed: 22 November 2016

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO(Fisheries: production; publication : search) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 20.7 - 27.5, mean 24.4 (based on 130 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00933 (0.00429 - 0.02028), b=3.04 (2.87 - 3.21), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.5   ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.09-0.17; tmax=21).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (69 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate to high vulnerability (52 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.