About Mycteroperca fusca (Lowe, 1838)
Mycteroperca fusca is a large fish species. Adult individuals have brownish or dark grey bodies marked with irregular pale blotches and spots, as well as a prominent maxillary streak. When stressed, M. fusca can reverse its body color and pattern. Juveniles are mottled greenish brown, with prominent white spots on the head and body; their dorsal, anal, and caudal fins have white streaks, and their pectoral fins are translucent golden. The body is oblong and compressed, with a body depth 3.0 to 3.3 times the standard length. This species has a convex interorbital area, and enlarged serrations on the preopercle at its angle, which form a rounded lobe below a shallow indentation on the vertical limb. There are a few small serrations on the subopercle and interopercle. In juveniles, the anterior and posterior nostrils are slightly unequal in size; in adults, the posterior nostrils are three times larger than the anterior nostrils. The lower jaw protrudes well beyond the upper jaw. The meristic formula for this species is D, XI, 14-16; A III, 10-12. Its maximum recorded total length is 80 cm. Mycteroperca fusca is an insular species native to the Canary Islands, Azores, Madeira, and Cape Verde. In 2010, two individuals were reported in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel.
