World Aquaculture Magazine - September 2021

WWW.WA S .ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • SEP TEMBER 2021 31 and bivalve mollusks, as well as crabs, sea urchins and barnacles (Robins et al. 1986, Westneat 2013, Froese and Pauly 2015). Hogfish may live up to 23 years and weigh as much as 10 kg (McBride and Richardson 2007). Hogfish are popular in the aquarium trade and are also common in public aquaria (Choat et al. 2010, Froese and Pauly 2015). However, they are most popular for their value as a sport and food fish. Hogfish are most often targeted by recreational spear fishers but are also caught by angling (McBride and Richardson 2007). Recreational and commercial harvest of hogfish in the United States is dominated by Florida. From 2000 to 2015, the average number of hogfish landed annually in Florida by recreational fishermen was approximately 145,000 lb with commercial landings being somewhat stagnant during the same period, averaging around 45,000 lb (NOAA 2015). Hogfish are highly prized for the quality and taste of their fillets and have been described as the “filet mignon of fish” for their delicate white meat with almost no “fishy” flavor. Hogfish are often marketed as “hog snapper” and sold fresh or frozen, whole or filleted. Hogfish fillets retail for around $ 20/lb but prices can exceed $ 30/lb when supplies are limited. Food safety is a valid concern with wild hogfish due to the potential for ciguatera poisoning, which is associated Background The hogfish Lachnolaimus maximus is distributed throughout coastal waters of the western Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina to the northern coast of South America and throughout the Gulf of Mexico (Westneat 2013, Froese and Pauly 2015). Hogfish are a member of the family Labridae, colorful fishes known as wrasses, and the second-most traded family of ornamental fishes (Rhyne et al. 2012). Many of the wrasses, including hogfish, are protogynous sequential hermaphrodites, whose sexual succession is predicated on a myriad of environmental and social cues. Hogfish juveniles tend to be uniformly grey to reddish brown and are able to rapidly change to a mottled pattern (Figs. 1-5). Adults and juveniles have a prominent round black spot below the posterior dorsal fin rays. The primary defining feature of adult hogfish is a large protruding snout, like that of a hog, which is most prominent in males (Fig. 4). Adults have an overall pink color and dark maroon bar on the dorsal snout. These sexually dimorphic characteristics assist with visual identification of sex in mature hogfish (Colin 1982). Adults are often found near hard, open bottom areas as well as coral reefs and edges, whereas young juveniles are found in inshore nursery areas such as seagrass beds (Roessler 1965, Victor 1986, Lindeman et al. 2000, Froese and Pauly 2015). The diet of adult hogfish consists predominately of gastropods Broodstock Formation, Spawning and Larval Culture of Hogfish Elizabeth H. Silvy, Frederick Shopnitz and Cortney L. Ohs FIGURE 1. Hogfish in captivity at the UF-IRREC-AL. Note the mottled pattern. ( C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 3 2 ) FIGURE 2. Small female hogfish collected in the Florida Keys. FIGURE 3. One of the surviving hogfish from the first Florida Keys cohort.