Spadefish Spadefish
Atlantic Spadefish

Scientific Classification

Common Name
Atlantic spadefish
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Osteichthyes
Order
Perciformes
Family
Ephippidae
Genus Species
Chaetodipterus faber

Fast Facts

Description
Silver disc-shaped body with black bars and black forward edge to the single dorsal and anal fins. Dorsal and anal fins begin a body mid-point - forming roughly equal triangular structures. Solid (truncate) caudal fin is prominently flanked by dorsal and anal fins. If stood on their caudal fin, their overall body shape is reflective of the spade found within a typical deck of playing cards – hence their common name.
Size
30.5 to 45.7 cm (1 to 1.5 ft); 91 cm (3 ft) max
Weight
9.0 kg (19.8 lbs.) max
Diet
Cnidarians, annelids, mollusks, crustaceans, and plankton
Incubation
Eggs develop relatively rapidly, exhibiting an incubation period of approximately 24 hours
Life Span
5 years (average);19 years (max.)
Range
Western Atlantic: Massachusetts to Gulf of Mexico and southeastern Brazil
Habitat
3 to 35 meters in tropical & sub-tropical open and coastal marine and brackish waters
Population
Global: No data
Status 
IUCN: Not listed
CITES: Not listed
USFWS: Not listed

Fun Facts

  1. In an attempt to camouflage themselves, darkly colored juvenile spadefish will often drift, leaf-like, in estuarine and coastal marine waters. 
  2. Adults may congregate in large schools - consisting of up to 500 individuals. 
  3. Atlantic spadefish will congregate around a variety of environmental super-structures – including reef systems, sunken vessels and debris, and oil derricks. 
  4. For more information about bony fishes, explore  the Bony Fishes InfoBook.   

Ecology and Conservation

Spadefish will target planktonic prey items (including jellyfish and copepods) as well as benthic prey items (including hydroids, sponges, ascidians, anthozoans, and polychaetes). They, in turn, are prey items for finfish, sharks, and rays.


Bibliography

Bond, Carl E. Biology of Fishes - Second Edition. Saunders College Publishing, 1996.

Humann, Paul. Reef Fish Identification - Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas. New World Publications, Inc., 1992.

core.ecu.edu

fishbase.org

odu.edu