JHUP Snyder Booklet

DAVID B. SNYDER AND GEORGE H. BURGESS

MARI NE FISHES of FLORIDA

Marine Fishes of FloridaDAVID B. SNYDER

and GEORGE H. BURGESS

The essential illustrated guide to Florida’s marine fishes.

T he most comprehensive book about Florida’s marine fishes ever produced, Marine Fishes of Florida includes hundreds of photographs and descriptions of species you’ll encounter—plus

many that are rare—when diving, snorkeling, kayaking, or fishing. Coverage includes both the Atlantic and Gulf coastline, from habitats near the shore to deeper waters. Fishes found in coastal rivers and other brackish waters are fully represented, as are offshore species that venture into Florida’s waters often enough to be called “occasional visitors.”

David B. Snyder and George H. Burgess intertwine personal observations with results from research studies to provide accurate—often surprising—details. The result is a set of beautifully succinct identification descriptions coupled with information about each species’ natural history.

From the largest sharks to the smallest cryptic gobies, from homely toadfishes to the spectacularly colored reef fishes, this book is certain to help you better understand the fish you’ve seen or hooked.

David B. Snyder is a senior scientist with CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. His photographs of fishes have appeared in numerous field guides and technical and popular publications. George H. Burgess is the coordinator of museum operations and the director of the Florida Program for Shark Research at the University of Florida’s Florida Museum of Natural History. He is the coauthor of Sharks: The Animal Answer Guide.

Features of Marine Fishes of Florida include:

• Over500colorphotographs

• Differentiationofadultand juvenileforms

• Coverageof133fish familiesandhundreds ofspecies

• Sizeandgeographical rangedata

• Naturalhistoryand conservationnotes

• Explanationsofgeologic historyandcurrenthabitats

Major ecoregions and reef features around Florida

JHP Snyder 14173 wholebook.indd 10 11/16/15 4:04 PM

© 2016 The Johns Hopkins University PressUNCORRECTED PROOFDo not quote for publication until verified with finished book.All rights reserved. No portion of this may be reproduced or distributed without permission.NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION

192 MARINE FISHES OF FLORIDA

Grunts Family Haemulidae

• Black margate (Anisotremus

surinamensis)

• Porkfish (Anisotremus virginicus)

• Barred grunt (Conodon nobilis)

• Bonnetmouth (Emmelichthyops

atlanticus)

• Margate (Haemulon album)

• Tomtate (Haemulon aurolineatum)

• Caesar grunt (Haemulon

carbonarium)

• Smallmouth grunt (Haemulon

chrysargyreum)

• French grunt (Haemulon

flavolineatum)

• Spanish grunt (Haemulon

macrostomum)

• Cottonwick (Haemulon

melanurum)

• Sailors choice (Haemulon parra)

• White grunt (Haemulon plumierii)

• Bluestriped grunt (Haemulon

sciurus)

• Striped grunt (Haemulon striatum)

• Boga (Haemulon vittata)

• Pigfish (Orthopristis chrysoptera)

• Burro grunt (Pomadasys crocro)

SpeciesGrunts are similar to snappers but lack the latter’s prominent teeth. Grunts get their name from their ability to produce grunting

sounds by grinding their pharyn-geal teeth (located in the throat). The different species can be readily separated by body shape and color pattern. Porkfishes and black margates are easily distinguished from all others by their deep bodies, sharply sloping heads, and distinctive color patterns. Adult porkfishes have yellow and blue stripes on their sides and 2 distin-guishing, vertical black bars on the head: the first running diagonally from the top of the head through the eye to the jaw, and the second vertically from the dorsal- fin origin

Top left: Black margate (Anisotremus surinamensis), Jupiter, Florida. Bottom left: Juvenile black margate, Palm Beach, Florida. Top right: Porkfish (Anisotremus virginicus), Marquesas Keys, Florida. Bottom right: Juvenile porkfish, Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida.


Top left: Black margate (Anisotremus surinamensis), Jupiter, Florida. Top right: Juvenile black margate, Palm Beach, Florida. Bottom left: Porkfish (Anisotremus virginicus), Marquesas Keys, Florida. Bottom right: Juvenile porkfish, Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida.

GRUN TS 193

straight down. Juvenile porkfishes have golden- to bright- yellow heads and silvery- white bodies, with 2 black stripes: 1 above and paral-lel with the lateral line, and 1 on top of the lateral line (midlateral stripe). Adult black margates have a single wide bar that runs diagonally behind the gill and above the pelvic fin. Each scale on the flanks has a

black spot, and the fins and tail are black. Juveniles have 2 thick, black longitudinal stripes and a squarish caudal spot.

Burro grunts are uniformly golden- brown, with dusky pigment in the fins and tail and no stripes or obvious markings. Juveniles and adults have a similar color-ation. Burro grunts do have a

conspicuous morphological feature that distinguishes them from the others—an enlarged anal spine.

The Haemulon species are colorful in a subdued way; each one characterized by a particular striped pattern that is the primary way to separate the species visually. Early Haemulon juveniles (2 to 5 in) also exhibit species- specific pat-terns of lateral stripes (the lengths of the midlateral stripe and the upper eye stripe emerging from the upper posterior margin of the eye are key to separating early juveniles) and caudal spots that aid in their identification. At first glance, some of the species look very similar. For example, white grunts and bluestriped grunts both

Burro grunt (Pomadasys crocro), Loxahatchee River, Florida

Top left: White grunt (Haemulon plumierii), Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida. Bottom left: Juvenile white grunt, Jupiter, Florida. Top right: Bluestriped grunt (Haemulon sciurus), Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida. Bottom right: Juvenile bluestripe grunt, Jupiter, Florida.


234 MARINE FISHES OF FLORIDA

of the body and bright- yellow on the posterior half. Some older individuals are almost- completely bluish- purple, with only a smatter-ing of yellow remaining. Tusk- like teeth project from the lower jaws of these larger males. Spotfin hogfishes are smaller in size (8 in) and are easily distinguished by their fire- engine- red body; a midlat-eral, whitish stripe that trails off posteriorly; and a bright- yellow rear part of the dorsal fin, caudal peduncle, and tail (the leading edge of the lower caudal lobe is edged in red). The upper tip of the pectoral fin has a black spot, and the dorsal and anal fins are edged in blue or

black. Early juveniles are uniformly bright- yellow, with a black spot on the front of the dorsal fin.

Dwarf wrasses (3 in) differ from other wrasses in having the dorsal fin clearly demarcated into two parts, with the anterior portion taller than the posterior one. They are relatively deep bodied and laterally compressed; have a fairly pointed snout; and range in color from pale- green (with pink stripes) to dark– emerald- green (with flecks of white and orange). Creole wrasses, with their deeply forked tails and streamlined bodies, look nothing like the other members of the group (they actually resemble

damselfishes in the genus Chromis). Juveniles and initial- phase individ-uals are uniformly deep purplish- blue, with a series of light spots or miniblotches on the upper body, under the dorsal fin. Terminal males are bicolored: the front half is similarly purple, and the rear half predominantly golden- yellow. The snout is dark- purple to black.

Razorfishes are extremely laterally compressed, with steep, vertical foreheads and small eyes, placed high up. Pearly and green razorfishes have rounded caudal fins. Pearly razorfishes (8.5 in) have multiple vertical, electric- blue lines on the head. Terminal males are

Left: Terminal phase spotfin hogfish (Bodianus pulchellus), Jupiter, Florida. Right: Juvenile, Hobe Sound, Florida.

Left: Terminal phase Spanish hogfish (Bodianus rufus), Palm Beach, Florida. Right: Juvenile, Palm Beach, Florida.


WRASSES AND PARROTFISHES 235

pearly white, with a pinkish cast laterally, and have pinkish dorsal and anal fins, with thin, varie-gated blue lines. There is a diffuse, oblique, reddish- orange blotch

under and behind the tip of the pectoral fin. Intermediate- phase individuals are pale- bluish to green; the head has several thin blue bars; and each body scale has a thin

blue line. Young pearly razorfishes are pale, with 4 diffuse body bars. Green razorfishes (5.5 in) are greenish- brown, with about 5 vertical orange bars on the head and elongated pelvic fins. Terminal males are lime- green to orangish, with 1 or more small, conspicuous, ocellated black spots at midbody, near the tip of the pectoral fin. The dorsal, anal, and caudal fins have thin, wavy, light- blue lines and pink to brick- red margins. Females are pearly whitish to green, with 5– 6 grayish to orangish- brown bars and a series of small white spots along the base of the dorsal fin. The dor-sal and anal fins are pale- maroon, with thin, light- blue lines. The first 2 dorsal spines are elongated in juvenile green razorfishes; in combination with their olive- green to dark- brown bodies, they might be confused with dwarf wrasses. Rosy razorfishes (6 in) have straight margins on their caudal fins, and small dark spots in the pectoral- fin armpits. Terminal males are reddish- pink; their pale- yellow heads have faint blue bars and a dark blotch on the gill cover. Individual body scales have blue centers. In females, the area behind and below the pectoral fin is pale, with thin, vertical red lines and black spots; this nearly transparent abdominal window may indicate the stage of ovarian development to interested males. There is a dark vertical blotch on the operculum.

Small, cigar- shaped members of the genera Halichoeres and Tha‑lassoma undergo some degree of developmental color change, result-ing in multiple (minimally three) phases: juveniles, immature adults (female or male), and terminal

Dwarf wrasse (Doratonotus megalepis), Indian River Lagoon, Florida

Top: Terminal phase male creole wrasse (Clepticus parrae), Palm Beach, Florida. Bottom: Initial phase, Palm Beach, Florida.


Marine Fishes of FloridaDAVID B. SNYDER and GEORGE H. BURGESS

Publication date: June 2016 8 x 10, 392 pages 495 color photographs978-1-4214-1872-8 $39.95 / £26.00 paperback Also available as an e-book

Sales queries: Kerry CahillSales [email protected]

Media queries: Jack HolmesPublicist [email protected]

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