For the Canadian comedian, see Snook (comedian)

Snook (comedian)

Snook, the alter-ego of Peter Soucy, is a Newfoundland comedian and actor.-Peter Soucy:Peter Soucy was born in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador where he attended school before eventually moving to Nova Scotia....

.

Centropomus Lacépède, 1802, is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of predominantly marine

Seawater

Seawater is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% . This means that every kilogram of seawater has approximately of dissolved salts . The average density of seawater at the ocean surface is 1.025 g/ml...

 fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

 in family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Centropomidae

Centropomidae

The Centropomidae are a single genus family of freshwater and marine fishes in Order Perciformes, including the common snook or róbalo, Centropomus undecimalis...

 of order

Order (biology)

In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...

 Perciformes

Perciformes

The Perciformes, also called the Percomorphi or Acanthopteri, is one of the largest orders of vertebrates, containing about 40% of all bony fish. Perciformes means perch-like. They belong to the class of ray-finned fish and comprise over 7,000 species found in almost all aquatic environments...

. The type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 is Centropomus undecimalis, the common snook

Common snook

The common snook is a species of marine fish in the family Centropomidae of the order Perciformes. This species is native to the coastal waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, from southern Florida and Texas...

. Commonly known as snooks or róbalos, the Centropomus species are native to tropical and subtropical waters of the western Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 and eastern Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

s.

The snook species range in maximum length from about 35 cm (14 in) to some 140 cm (4 ft 7 in), with maximum recorded weights of 1.0 – 26 kg

Kilogram

The kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...

 (2.2 – 57  lb

Pound (mass)

The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...

).

Occurring in a variety of habitats ranging from coral reef

Coral reef

Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...

s to estuaries

Estuary

An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....

 and mangrove

Mangrove

Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...

 swamps, the snooks are carnivorous, feeding primarily on crustacean

Crustacean

Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...

s and other fishes.

Many of the snooks are important as commercial food fish and as game fish

Game fish

Game fish are fish pursued for sport by recreational anglers. They can be freshwater or marine fish. Game fish can be eaten after being caught, though increasingly anglers practise catch and release to improve fish populations. Some game fish are also targeted commercially, particularly...

.

The generic

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 name Centropomus derives from the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 κέντρον (centre, in this sense "sting") and πώμα (cover, plug, operculum

Operculum (gastropod)

The operculum, meaning little lid, is a corneous or calcareous anatomical structure which exists in many groups of sea snails and freshwater snails, and also in a few groups of land snails...

).

‘Róbalo’ or snook are world-renowned game fish of the Centropomidae family – genus Centropomus that are much sought after by fly fishing enthusiasts and sportfishing charters. Six Atlantic and six Pacific Ocean species are currently recognized as scientifically valid. All are known to inhabit Central America and all are excellent gamefish. There is no evidence found of the individual species crossing from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean or vice-versa through the Panama Canal. Interestingly, all Robalo or snook species are capable of inhabiting both fresh and saltwater and are known to seasonally occupy Gatun Lake, which forms a water bridge connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as an integral part of the Panama Canal. Of the twelve species only 4 are known to reach sizes in excess of 10 lbs. – two Atlantic Ocean species (Centropomus undecimalis and Centropomus poeyi) and two Pacific Ocean species (Centropomus viridis and Centropomus nigrescens). The eight species of smaller Robalo usually grow to less than 6 lbs. and can be readily distinguished by from the four larger species by their noticeably longer anal spine, anal fin configuration and body shape. The four large species are immediately recognizable by their more streamlined appearance given by the longer narrower body shape. Many individual species of Robalo bear a close resemblance to one another although they may be from the same or different oceans so identification is best left up to experts. The two Atlantic Ocean large Robalo species (Centropomus undecimalis and Centropomus poeyi) are virtually identical in appearance. They can usually only be distinguished by the number of gill rakers each possesses. The Robalo or common snook (Centropomus undecimalis) commonly has eleven to thirteen non-rudimentary gill rakers and the Mexican snook (Centropomus Poeyi) is most often found to possess fifteen to eighteen non-rudimentary gill rakers. The Pacific Ocean “Robalo Ñato” or white snook (Centropomus viridis) is also a dead ringer for the common snook (Centropomus undecimalis). The distinguishing feature is also the non-rudimentary gill raker count with thirteen to fifteen for the white snook (Centropomus Viridis). They act, breed, grow and fight virtually the same. Curiously, laboratory reared specimens of the common snook (Centropomus undecimalis) showed meristic variations in vertebrae, fin ray and gill raker numbers not observed in specimens from the wild. These variations are suspected to be due to diet and growth rates. Large Robalo caught in Lake Gatun invariably cause a wealth of confusion. The IGFA requires verification of the species by a designated authority for world record claims. The two Pacific Ocean species of large Robalo (Centropomus viridis and Centropomus nigrescens) are somewhat easier to distinguish.

The ‘Robalo Redondo’ or black snook (Centropomus nigrescens) can be differentiated by three visually apparent characteristics when compared to the ‘Robalo Ñato’ or white snook (Centropomus viridis):

• 1) The body of Centropomus nigrescens, while similarly elongate is rounder and heavier in general appearance – being thicker through the middle than Centropomus viridis.
• 2) The head of Centropomus nigrescens is bigger and the undershot jaw, characteristic of all Róbalo is far less pronounced than in Centropomus viridis.
• 3) Most importantly, the fourth dorsal spine of Centropomus nigrescens is taller than the third. In both species the first two dorsal spines are hardly noticeable. In large specimens these first two spines are only a quarter of an inch long, while the third spine is over two inches in length. Therefore if the first long dorsal spine is longer than all the others, it is a Centropomus viridis; however if the first long dorsal spine is shorter than the second long dorsal spine it is a Centropomus nigrescens.

Species

• Armed snook, Centropomus armatus Gill, 1863
• Swordspine snook, Centropomus ensiferus Poey, 1860
• Blackfin snook, Centropomus medius Günther, 1864
• Guianan snook, Centropomus mexicanus Bocourt, 1868
• Black snook, Centropomus nigrescens Günther, 1864
• Fat snook, Centropomus parallelus Poey, 1860
• Tarpon snook, Centropomus pectinatus Poey, 1860
• Mexican snook, Centropomus poeyi Chávez, 1961
• Yellowfin snook, Centropomus robalito Jordan & Gilbert, 1882
• Common snook
  Common snook
  The common snook is a species of marine fish in the family Centropomidae of the order Perciformes. This species is native to the coastal waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, from southern Florida and Texas...
  
  , Centropomus undecimalis (Bloch, 1792)
• Union snook, Centropomus unionensis Bocourt, 1868
• White snook, Centropomus viridis Lockington, 1877

Trivia

The United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

s named USS Robalo and USS Snook are named for the common snook

Common snook

The common snook is a species of marine fish in the family Centropomidae of the order Perciformes. This species is native to the coastal waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, from southern Florida and Texas...

.