Wreckfish

Wreckfish
Atlantic wreckfish, Polyprion americanus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Acropomatiformes
Family: Polyprionidae
Bleeker, 1874[1]
Genus: Polyprion
Oken, 1817
Species

see text

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]

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]

  1. ^ Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer & Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of Recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (2): 001–230.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference CofF was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Wreckfish". British Sea Fishing. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  4. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Polyprion americanus". FishBase. December 2019 version.
  5. ^ Sedberry, George R.; et al. (1999). "Wreckfish Polyprion americanus in the North Atlantic: fisheries, biology, and management of a widely distributed and long-lived fish" (PDF). American Fisheries Society Symposium. 23: 27–50. Retrieved 5 April 2015.