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Rypticus saponaceus  (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

Greater soapfish
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Rypticus saponaceus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Rypticus saponaceus (Greater soapfish)
Rypticus saponaceus
Picture by Wirtz, P.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Perciformes (Perch-likes) > Serranidae (Sea basses: groupers and fairy basslets) > Grammistinae
Etymology: Rypticus: Greek, ryptikos, -e, -on = easy to wash (Ref. 45335).

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 1 - 62 m (Ref. 58047), usually 2 - 35 m (Ref. 40849).   Tropical, preferred ?; 33°N - 35°S, 98°W - 19°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Atlantic: Bermuda and southern Florida, USA to Brazil. Eastern Atlantic: Mauritania to Angola, including St. Paul's Rocks (Ref. 13121), Cape Verde, St. Helena and Ascension islands. One record from Cape of Good Hope, South Africa (Ref. 7320).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 35.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 26999); common length : 25.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3632)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 3; Dorsal soft rays (total): 23-25. Pale spots about the size of the pupil or smaller on body and some on dorsal fin (Ref. 13442).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

A solitary species (Ref. 26340) inhabiting shallow water on bottoms with eroded limestone or mixed sand and rocks, as well as around reefs. Often found lying motionless against rocks (Ref. 13121). Secretes copious mucus which makes its surface slimy and when disturbed the slime turns into a soapy foam. The mucus has been shown to contain a toxic protein (Ref. 3632). Nocturnal, frequently seen around the bases of coral colonies and near mouths of caves (Ref. 26938).

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

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

Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray, 1986. A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p. (Ref. 7251)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

CITES (Ref. 94142)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Other




Human uses

Fisheries: subsistence fisheries; aquarium: commercial
FAO(Publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishes of Iran | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.5010   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01148 (0.00445 - 0.02962), b=3.06 (2.84 - 3.28), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  4.1   ±0.5 se; Based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low to moderate vulnerability (34 of 100) .
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.