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, as  the 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)

Inhabits larger patch reefs and quickly sloping rocky bottoms. Often near the shelter of caves, ledges, or wrecks (Ref. 9710). Feeds at night on crustaceans, mollusks, smaller fish, and the long-spined urchin, Diadema. Marketed fresh.

Western Atlantic: Florida, USA and the Bahamas through the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea to Brazil.

Gulf of Mexico

Western Atlantic.

Dorsal spines (total): 12; Dorsal soft rays (total): 18; Analspines: 3; Analsoft rays: 9

Maximum size: 650 mm NG

76.0 cm TL (male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637)); max. published weight: 5,780 g (Ref. 40637)

Front half of body darker than rear. Soft dorsal and anal fins have dense scales on bases of interradial membranes (Ref. 26938). Fins dusky, anal and pelvic fins darkest; peritoneum not black; young with two black stripes and a black spot at base of caudal fin (Ref. 13442).

reef-associated; marine; depth range 0 - 20 m (Ref. 9710), usually 0 - 15 m (Ref. 40849)

Depth range based on 64 specimens in 1 taxon.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 16 samples.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): 0.5 - 57
  Temperature range (°C): 15.033 - 28.067
  Nitrate (umol/L): 0.256 - 4.634
  Salinity (PPS): 31.427 - 36.487
  Oxygen (ml/l): 4.502 - 5.718
  Phosphate (umol/l): 0.076 - 0.841
  Silicate (umol/l): 1.557 - 11.021

Graphical representation

Depth range (m): 0.5 - 57

Temperature range (°C): 15.033 - 28.067

Nitrate (umol/L): 0.256 - 4.634

Salinity (PPS): 31.427 - 36.487

Oxygen (ml/l): 4.502 - 5.718

Phosphate (umol/l): 0.076 - 0.841

Silicate (umol/l): 1.557 - 11.021
 
Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.

Depth: 3 - 20m.
From 3 to 20 meters.

Habitat: reef-associated.

Inhabits larger patch reefs and quickly sloping rocky bottoms. Often near the shelter of caves, ledges, or wrecks (Ref. 9710). Feeds at night on crustaceans, mollusks, smaller fish, and the long-spined urchin, Diadema. Carnivore (Ref. 57616).

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.


There are 3 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank.  Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.  See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.


Download FASTA File

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 11
Specimens with Barcodes: 17
Species With Barcodes: 1

Not Evaluated

fisheries: commercial; aquarium: public aquariums