Wreckfish
Genus of ray-finned fish
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The wreckfish are a small group of ray-finned fish in the genus Polyprion, belonging to the monotypic family Polyprionidae in the order Acropomatiformes.[2]
| Wreckfish | |
|---|---|
| |
| Atlantic wreckfish, Polyprion americanus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Acropomatiformes |
| Family: | Polyprionidae Bleeker, 1874[1] |
| Genus: | Polyprion Oken, 1817 |
| Species | |
|
see text | |
They are deep-water marine fish and can be found on the ocean bottom, where they inhabit caves and shipwrecks (thus their common name).[3] Their scientific name is from Greek poly meaning "many" and prion meaning "saw", a reference to their prominent spiny fins.[4]
Atlantic wreckfish (Polyprion americanus) are a long-lived commercial species in the Mediterranean, the south-eastern Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean.[5]
Taxonomy
There are two species:[6][2][7]
- Polyprion americanus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) (Atlantic wreckfish)
- Polyprion oxygeneios (Schneider & Forster, 1801) (Hāpuku)
The genera Lateolabrax and Stereolepis have previously been classified in Polyprionidae, but they are currently placed in their own monogeneric families Lateolabracidae and Stereolepididae.[7][8]
