Wreckfish
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Wreckfish | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Atlantic wreckfish, Polyprion americanus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Polyprionidae |
| Genera | |
|
See table for genera and species. | |
The wreckfish are a family, Polyprionidae, of perciform fish.
They are deep-water marine fish 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. They stay together in schools of at least five.
The fish is commonly known as chernia in Spanish-speaking Latin America.
In popular culture
Wreckfish was the secret ingredient on the May 1, 2011, episode of the Food Network's Iron Chef America and then on the September 20, 2011, and December 27, 2011, episodes of Chopped Champions.
Species
The six species in two genera are:
| Genus | Binomial name and author | Common name |
|---|---|---|
| Polyprion Oken (ex Cuvier) 1817 | P. americanus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) | Atlantic wreckfish |
| P. moeone Phillipps, 1927 | Bass groper | |
| P. oxygeneios (Schneider & Forster, 1801) | Hapuku | |
| P. yanezi de Buen, 1959 | ||
| Stereolepis Ayres 1859 | S. doederleini Lindberg & Krasyukova, 1969 | |
| S. gigas Ayres, 1859 | Giant sea bass | |
References
- Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Polyprionidae" in FishBase. January 2006 version.
- FishBase Species List and images. Polyprionidae. Accessed at 2 May 2009.
- eol - Encyclopedia of Life taxon Polyprionidae at http://www.eol.org.
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