Margate, Haemulon album

Margate, Haemulon album. Fish caught caught from coastal waters off Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, March 2017. Length: 20 cm (7.9 inches). Catch and photograph courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Margate, Haemulon album. Two fish caught off the Grand Mayan Pier, Riviera Maya, Cancun, Quintana Roo, March 2012. Length: 28 cm (11 inches) and 29 cm (12 inches) and respectfully. Catch and photograph courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

The Margate, Haemulon album, is a member of the Grunt or Haemulidae Family, that is also known as the White Margate and the Grey Grunt in Mexico as ronco jallao and ronco blanco. The designation White Margate is utilized to differentiate it from the Black Margate, Anisotremus surinamensis, which has a very similar body shape and geographic range. The species name “album” is reflective of the fish’s white coloration, as it is light colored. Globally, there are twenty-one species in the genus Haemulon, and all twenty-one are found in Mexican waters, fourteen in the Atlantic and seven in the Pacific Ocean.

The Margate has a deep compressed tapering body that is 36% to 40% of standard length. They have a silvery gray coloration and an olive tinge dorsally. Their scales have dark spots on the upper body. Juveniles are bluish in color with dark parallel stripes ventrally. All their fins are a dusky pale green and they have an indistinct band along their sides. Their lips and snout have a yellow tinge and the inside of their mouth is orange. They have sloping heads with a relatively large mouth, thick lips, strong pharyngeal teeth, a blunt snout, and serrated gill covers. They have a high back. Their anal fin has 3 anal spines, the second being thick, and 7 or 8 rays; and, their dorsal fin has 12 spines and 15 to 17 rays. The scale rows immediately below the lateral line are oblique.

The Margate is an inshore species that is found within seagrass beds, sand flats, coral reefs, and wrecks at depths between 18 m (60 feet) and 60 m (200 feet) but hey will enter shallower waters to seek invertebrates. They are the largest member of the Grunt Family reaching a maximum of 79 cm (2 feet 7 inches) in length and 7.1 kg (16 lbs) in weight. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 8.85 kg (19 lbs 8 oz) with the fish caught in coastal waters of the Dry Tortugas in February 2011. They are found as pairs and in large schools. They feed at night and primarily on benthic invertebrates including peanut worms and heart urchins. The Margate is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

The Margate is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean.

The Margate is a fairly easy fish to identify due to its large rubber lips, deep body, and uniform white coloration. It is similar in body shape to the Black Margate, Anisotremus surinamensis (black blotch behind pectoral fins) and the French Grunt, Haemulon flavolineatum (white body with numerous yellow stripes).

From a conservation perspective the Margate are currently considered to be Data Deficient. They are an important commercial fish and marketed fresh. They are not pursued by recreational anglers because they primarily inhabit deep water and require disproportionately heavy gear.