Wreckfish

Wreckfish
Atlantic wreckfish, Polyprion americanus
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Acropomatiformes
Family: Polyprionidae
Bleeker, 1874
Genus: Polyprion
Oken, 1817
Species

see text

The wreckfish are a small group of ray-finned fish in the genus Polyprion, belonging to the monotypic family Polyprionidae in the order Acropomatiformes.

They are deep-water marine fish and can be found on the ocean bottom, where they inhabit caves and shipwrecks (thus their common name). Their scientific name is from Greek poly meaning "many" and prion meaning "saw", a reference to their prominent spiny fins.

Atlantic wreckfish (Polyprion americanus) are a long-lived commercial species in the Mediterranean, the south-eastern Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean.