Hypoplectrus espinosai, Campeche Bank hamlet

Hypoplectrus espinosai Puebla, Aguilar-Perera, Robertson & Domínguez-Domínguez, 2025

Campeche Bank hamlet
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Perciformes/Serranoidei (Groupers) > Serranidae (Sea basses: groupers and fairy basslets)
Etymology: Hypoplectrus: Greek, hypo = under + Greek, plektron = sting, spur (Ref. 45335); espinosai: Named for Héctor Salvador Espinosa Pérez (1954-2022), a dedicated Mexican ichthyologist, founder of the Mexican Ichthyological Society and curator of the Mexican National Fish Collection.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 1 - 20 m (Ref. 137920). Tropical

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West Atlantic: southern Gulf of Mexico, Mexico (Campeche Bank). It could be considered of Least Concern given the remoteness of its geographic distribution in coral reefs from the cays of Campeche Bank (which is more than 140 km from the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 9.8 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 137920)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 10; Dorsal soft rays (total): 15; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 7. This species is distinguished from all its congeners by its coloration: body white with thin vertical lines but there are no bars (or very faint); snout with black spot surrounded by electric blue lines; caudal peduncle entirely covered by a black saddle blotch, extending over posterior part of body and sometimes, over posterior part of dorsal fin; no black eye-mask (Ref. 137920).
Body shape (shape guide): short and / or deep; Cross section: compressed.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

This species is mostly associated with shallow coral-reef habitats. Reported to be diurnal and solitary, and not observed displaying aggressive mimicry behavior as H. unicolor in Panama (Ref. 137920).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Heemstra, Phillip C. | Collaborators

Puebla, O., A. Aguilar-Perera, M. Helmkampf, D.R. Robertson, C.J. Estapé, A.M. Estapé and O. Domínguez-Domínguez, 2025. Hypoplectrus espinosai sp. nov. (Teleostei: Serranidae), a new hamlet on coral reefs in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. Zootaxa 5618(4):509-524. (Ref. 137920)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)

Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search |