The Black Margate, Anisotremus surinamensis, is a marine perciform fish in the grunt family (Haemulidae), also called the Thick Lipped Grunt, Surf Bream, or Black Bream.It inhabits reefs in shallow subtropical waters off the Eastern Coast of the United States, from Florida through the Gulf of Mexico, the Carribean, and the Western Atlantic south to Brazil, hiding in caves, ledges and shipwrecks up to 20 meters deep. Jordan and Warden (1898) indicated that it may also exist in the Galapagos, asthe most southern reaching gradation of species A. interruptus that is found to the North. It has a silvery-colored, elliptical body, with a pointy snout and thick lips.Young have black longitudinal stripes that fade away as they get older.The Black Margate is a carnivore and feeds nocturnally on small fish, crustaceans, mollusks and echinoderms.The genus Anisotremus contains 10 species that live in the eastern Pacific and western Atlantic, of which A. surinamensis is the largest, with a maximum total length of 76 cm, has the largest geographical range, and is found with a large variation of form.The Black Margate has a long population doubling time and Fish Base ranks it as vulnerable to population decline.It is sometimes caught and sold as a food fish, but carries some risk of Ciguatera poisoning in the Carribean.
(Bailly 2013; Jordan and Evermann 1898; Jordan and Evermann 1902; Olsen et al. 1984; Robins and Ray 1986)
The black margate (Anisotremus surinamensis), also known as black bream, black thicklip, dogfish, lippe, Mexican bull, pompon, Spanish grunt, surf bream, sweetlips or thicklip grunt,[3] is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grunt belonging to the family Haemulidae. It is native to the western Atlantic Ocean.[2]
The black margate has a deep, compressed body with a high back and a short, blunt head. The mouth is positioned low on the head, it is horizontal with fleshy lips and the jaws are equipped with bands of teeth on both jaws. The outer band of teeth are conical in shape.[4] It has a greyish-silver body which is darker on the anterior half than the posterior half. The dorsal scales have black centres and the fins are dark grey, the pelvic and anal fins being the darkest.[5] There is a darker pt h to the rear of the pectoral fins.[6] The juveniles have a black stripe along the lateral line and another along the upper back, and a large black spot on base of tail fin.[4] the dorsal fin has 12 spines and 18 soft rays while the anal fin contains 3 spines and 9 soft rays.[2] There is a deep notch in the dorsal fin and the fourth dorsal spine is longer than the others while the second anal spine is also very large.[4] The black margate reaches a maximum total length of 76 cm (30 in), although a total length of 45 cm (18 in) is more typical, while the heaviest specimen recorded was 5.8 kg (13 lb).[2]
The black margate is found in the warmer parts of the Western Atlantic Ocean. It is found in Florida from Cape Canaveral south through the Florida Keys to the Gulf of Mexico, including the Flower Garden Banks, from Rockport, Texas along the coast of Mexico to the northern Yucatan Peninsula and northwestern Cuba. It occurs throughout the Caribbean Sea then and along the northern and eastern coasts of South America to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. It also occurs at the Fernando de Noronha and Trinidade Island.[1]
The Black margate shows a preference for steep, sloping rock substrates or rock reefs in inshore waters down to depths of 20 m (66 ft). It frequently takes shelter in caves, ledges and within wrecks. It is normally encountered either as small groups or individuals. It is a nocturnal feeder, it’s diet including crustaceans, molluscs, smaller fish and urchins.[6] A frequent item in its diet are sea urchins in the genus Diadema.[2] They may gather in spawning aggregations and, off Jamaica, breeding adults have been reported between April and August. Larvae and young juveniles have been observed settling on rocky seabed’s off Florida.[1]
The black margate was first formally described in 1791 as Lutjanus surinamensis by the German naturalist Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723–1799) with the type locality given as Suriname.[7]
The black margate is occasionally caught and marketed by fisheries, although the consumption of the flesh of larger fishes has been linked to cases of ciguatera poisoning. They are also found in the aquarium trade.[1]
The black margate (Anisotremus surinamensis), also known as black bream, black thicklip, dogfish, lippe, Mexican bull, pompon, Spanish grunt, surf bream, sweetlips or thicklip grunt, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grunt belonging to the family Haemulidae. It is native to the western Atlantic Ocean.
