Scamp grouper

The scamp grouper (Mycteroperca phenax), also known as scamp, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean.

Habitat

The scamp grouper is found at depths of 0 to 100 metres (0 to 328 ft), the adults are found over rock ledges and rocky bottoms with high relief usually deeper than 30 metres (98 ft). Juveniles are found in reefs in shallower water and will enter estuaries and mangroves. The adults will migrate from deep water to shallower water when the temperature drops below 8.6 °C (47.5 °F) at the bottom of the water column. It is a protogynous hermaphrodite forming small, short-lived spawning aggregations, which may be ten to a few hundred strong over offshore reefs with high relief along the edge of the continental shelf. These take place from February until July in United States Atlantic waters and in the Gulf of Mexico, peaking from March to the middle of May. Scamp are the most numerous grouper in areas of living Oculina reefs at depths between 70 and 100 metres (230 and 330 ft) off the eastern coast of Florida. It has been suggested that scamp prefer areas of high topographic complexity as they are relatively small in size and they can use overhangs, ledges and caves to shelter from predators like sharks and greater amberjack (Seriola dumerili). It feeds on fishes, benthic crustaceans and octopuses.

Distribution

The scamp grouper occurs in the western Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina south along the southern Atlantic coast of the United States into the Gulf of Mexico where it has been recorded as far south as Belize, but it is absent from much of the West Indies It is also found along the Caribbean coast of South America from Colombia to Tobago. Juveniles are sometimes recorded as far north as Massachusetts and a vagrant has been caught in the Azores.