Species: Stenotomus chrysops, Scup porgy, the Scup
blue patch above & behind eye
Stenotomus chrysops (Linnaeus, 1766)
Scup
Body very deep, oval, compressed; head deep, upper profile steep, with a small concavity above eye; rear nostril a slit; preopercle border smooth; mouth small, opens at front; bone under front of eye overlaps rear bone of top jaw; front jaw teeth are strongly flattened incisors, narrow tips and with narrowing bases, close-set, in bands, 2 rows of molar teeth on sides of jaws; dorsal fin XIII, 12, 1st spine very short & points forward, no spines long and filamentous; anal fin III, 11; pectoral very long, reaches past 3rd anal spine; tail forked; 49-54 lateral line scales; cheeks and opercles scaly, but no scales on snout or between the eye and mouth.
Silvery, olivaceous on back, usually with 5-6 faint dark bars on upper body, plus 12-15 indistinct stripes; faint blue spots on head, body and fins; a blue patch above and behind each eye.
Reaches 46 cm; 1.9 kg.
Lives on hard bottoms.
Depth range: 0-200 m.
Nova Scotia to Florida.
High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
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- Marine
- Marine Only
- Inshore/Offshore
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- Inshore Only
- Inshore
- Water Column Position
-
- Bottom
- Habitat
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- Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
- Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
- Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
- Reef and soft bottom
- Rocks
- FishBase Habitat
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- Reef Associated
- Feeding Group
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- Carnivore
- Data
- Diet
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- Octopus/squid/cuttlefish
- Mobile benthic gastropods/bivalves
- Data
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Mobile benthic worms
- Egg Type
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- Pelagic
- Pelagic larva
- Data
- Global Endemism
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- West Atlantic Endemic
- All species.
- Greater Caribbean non-endemic
- Regional Endemism
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- Continent only
- All species..
- Extends North of GC
- Continent
- GC non-endemic
- Residency
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- Resident
- Climate Zone
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- Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
- Temperate (>35N)
- IUCN Red List
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- Listed
- Near threatened
- CITES
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- Not listed
- Length Max
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- 46
- Depth Range Min
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- 0
- Depth Range Max
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- 200
