Spanish hogfish facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Spanish hogfish
Adult
Juvenile
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Synonyms
Labrus rufus Linnaeus, 1758 Bodianus bodianus Bloch, 1790 Lutjanus verres Bloch, 1791 Sparus falcatus Bloch, 1791 Labrus semiruber Lacépède, 1801 Harpe caeruleoaureus Lacépède, 1802 Bodianus blochii Lacépède, 1802 Bodianus brachyrhynus Miranda Ribeiro, 1918

The Spanish hogfish, Bodianus rufus, is a species of wrasse native to the western Atlantic Ocean, where it can be found from North Carolina and Bermuda through the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico to southern Brazil. It inhabits coral or rock reefs at depths of 1 to 70 m (3.3 to 229.7 ft). While the adults feed on such prey as molluscs (snails, mussels, and squid), crustaceans (Mysis and brine shrimp), echinoderms (brittle stars and sea urchins), worms, and small fish, the juveniles act as cleaner fishes. This species can reach a length of 40 cm (16 in), though most do not exceed 28 cm (11 in). This species is of minor importance to local commercial fisheries and can be found in the aquarium trade. When Marcus Elieser Bloch named the genus Bodianus he used Bodianus bodianus as the type species of the genus, this is a junior synonym of Bodianus rufus.