Sand Tilefish, Malacanthus plumieri

Sand Tilefish, Malacanthus plumieri. Fish caught from coastal waters off Broward County, Florida, August 2021. Length: 28 cm (11 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Sebastian, Florida.

Sand Tilefish, Malacanthus plumieri. Fish caught from coastal waters off Deerfield Beach, Florida, December 2020. Length: 30 cm (12 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, San Diego, California.

Sand Tilefish, Malacanthus plumieri. Fish caught from coastal waters off Belize, August 2020. Length: 30 cm (12 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Josh Leisen (joshadventures.com), Gaylord, Michigan.

Sand Tilefish, Malacanthus plumieri. Fish caught from waters off Pulley Ridge, 100 miles west of the Tortugas Ecological Reserve, Florida Keys, August 2014. Length: 64 cm (2 feet 1 inch). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Sand Tilefish, Malacanthus plumieri. Fish caught from coastal waters off Key Largo, Florida, August 2020. Length: 64 cm (2 feet 1 inch). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).

The Sand Tilefish, Malacanthus plumieri, is a member of the Tilefish or Malacanthidae Family, and is known in Mexico as matajuelo blanco. This fish is the only species in the genus Malacanthus and is found in Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Sand Tilefish has a very elongated slightly compressed body with a uniform depth throughout their length that is 16% to 18% of standard length. They are pale blue-green overall and darker dorsally with fairly wide yellow bars on their sides that extend down to their lateral line. The anal and dorsal fins have three bands, dark, clear and thin yellow on the margins; their caudal and pectoral fins are clear; and, their pelvic fins have a yellow tinge. Their head has blue striping on a yellow background that is more defined between the eye and the edge of the gill cover. They have a slender head with a rounded profile, a very small terminal mouth, smooth gill cover margins, and one large prominent blue spine. Their anal fin has 1 spine and 48 to 55 rays; their caudal fin is deeply lunate with long lobes; and their dorsal fin has 4 or 5 spines and 54 to 60 rays. Both anal and dorsal fins have very long bases. Their body is covered with rough scales.

The Sand Tilefish is a shallow-water benthic species normally found in pairs in sandy and rubble bottoms near grassy areas. They have been found at depths up to 145 m (480 feet) noting that the fish photographed below came from 213 m (700-foot) water. They reach a maximum of 70 cm (2 feet 4 inches) in length and 2.0 kg (4.4 lbs) in weight. Males are larger than females and range further from their home base than females. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 1.95 kg (4 lbs 4 oz) with the fish caught in coastal waters off Oak Island, North Carolina in April 2004. They build tunnels out of sand, rubble, and shell fragments with entrances that can be up to ten feet in diameter and use these tunnels to avoid predation. They feed on amphipods, chitons, fish, polychaete worms, shrimp, stomatopods, sea stars, and sea urchins. They are aggregating spawners with females significantly outnumbering males indicative that they are protogynous hermaphrodites and change from female to male at midlife. They have a lifespan of up to thirty years. The Sand Tilefish 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 Sand Tilefish 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 Sand Tilefish is straightforward to identify and cannot be confused with any other specie due its markings.

From a conservation perspective the Sand Tilefish is considered of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are without significant conservation measures with the only real concern being habitat destruction caused by deepwater shrimp trawls. The Sand Tilefish is not a focus of either commercial or recreational anglers. They are caught primarily by hook and line and occasionally in traps and bottom trawls. Live fish are known to bite and can inflict wounds to humans when handled incorrectly. They are marketed fresh when sold commercially.