Wreckfish

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Wreckfishes
Atlantic wreckfish, Polyprion americanus. From plate 66 of Oceanic Ichthyology by G. Brown Goode and Tarleton H. Bean, published 1896.
Atlantic wreckfish, Polyprion americanus. From plate 66 of Oceanic Ichthyology by G. Brown Goode and Tarleton H. Bean, published 1896.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Polyprionidae
Genera

Polyprion
Sterolepis
See text for species.

The wreckfishes are a family, Polyprionidae, of perciform fishes.

They are deep-water marine fishes and can be found on the ocean bottom, where they inhabit caves and shipwrecks (thus their common name). Their scientific name is from Greek poly meaning "many" and prion meaning "saw", a references to their prominent spiny fins.

[edit] Species

There are six species in two genera:

[edit] References