Polyprion (Cuvier) Oken, 1817
Head with rough ridges. Two opercular spines; preopercular edge wholly serrated. Mandible very prominent. Supra-maxillae present, Teeth villiform, unequal, pluriseriate on jaws. Dorsal fin single with strong spines; caudal fin rounded in young, truncate in adult. Scales small, ctenoid, present on head and on base of vertical fins. Large-sized, excellent food fishes.
Habitat: above rocky and muddy/sandy bottoms, at 40-450 m, chiefly at 100-200 m, said to reach 1,000 m. Adults solitary and benthic; young somewhat gregarious, epipelagic, often below floating wreckage. Food: crustaceans and molluscs, also fishes. Reproduction: during the summer (Mediterranean).
Distribution: eastern Atlantic northward to Norway and Mediterranean. Elsewhere, in eastern Atlantic, the Canaries, the Cape Verde Is., Tristan da Cunha and African coasts southward to southern Angola; probably South Africa (Cape to Natal); in western Atlantic, Newfoundland to north-eastern United States; reported from Argentina (rare).
Species 2; in Clofnam area 1.
Species of this genus in the program:
Polyprion americanus