Morphology Data of Mycteroperca microlepis
Identification keys
Abnormalities
Main Ref. Craig, M.T., YJ. Sadovy de Mitcheson and P.C. Heemstra, 2011
Appearance refers to
Bones in OsteoBase

Sex attributes

Specialized organs
Different appearance
Different colors
Remarks

Descriptive characteristics of juvenile and adult

Striking features
Body shape lateral fusiform / normal
Cross section
Dorsal head profile
Type of eyes
Type of mouth/snout
Position of mouth
Type of scales
Diagnosis

Distinguished by the following characteristics: adult females and juveniles are generally brownish grey with dark vermiculations; camouflage phase has 5 dark brown saddles separated by short white bars below the dorsal fin; large males sometimes display a "black-belly" and "black-back" phase; black-belly phase is mostly pale grey, with faint dark reticulations below soft dorsal fin, belly and ventral part of the body above anal fin black, as are margin of the soft dorsal fin, central rear part of caudal fin and rear margins of pectoral and pelvic fins; depth of body contained 3.0-3.5 times in SL; head length 2.5-2.7 times in SL; convex interorbital area; angle of preopercle produced into a rounded lobe bearing enlarged serrae; posterior nostrils of adults much larger than anterior ones; smooth lateral body scales, except those covering pectoral fin (Ref. 89707).

Ease of Identification

Meristic characteristics of Mycteroperca microlepis

Lateral Lines Interrupted: No
Scales on lateral line 88 - 96
Pored lateral line scales
Scales in lateral series 128 - 146
Scale rows above lateral line
Scale rows below lateral line
Scales around caudal peduncle
Barbels
Gill clefts (sharks/rays only)
Gill rakers
on lower limb 16 - 16
on upper limb 8 - 9
total
Vertebrae
preanal
total

Fins

Dorsal fin(s)

Attributes
Fins number
Finlets No. Dorsal   
Ventral  
Spines total 11 - 11
Soft-rays total 16 - 18
Adipose fin

Caudal fin

Attributes

Anal fin(s)

Fins number
Spines total 3 - 3
Soft-rays total 10 - 12

Paired fins

Pectoral Attributes  
Spines     
Soft-rays   16 - 18
Pelvics Attributes  
Position    
Spines     
Soft-rays   
Main Ref. (e.g. 9948)
Glossary ( e.g. cephalopods )
Comments & Corrections
Back to Search
cfm script by eagbayani, 17.10.00, php script by rolavides, 13/03/08 ,  last modified by sortiz, 06.27.17