Tilefish, Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps
Tilefish, Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps. Fish caught from coastal waters off Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, August 2018. Length: 56 cm (22 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Kenneth Tse, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Tilefish, Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps. Fish caught from coastal waters off Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, August 2018. Length: 69 cm (2 feet 3 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
The Tilefish, Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps, is the largest member of the Tilefish or Malacanthidae Family, that is also known as the Gold Tile and the Great Northern Tilefish and in Mexico as conejo amarilla. Globally, there are two species in the genus Lopholatilus, one of which is found in Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Tilefish has a robust quadrangular shaped body that tapers toward the tail. They are an overall iridescent blue-gray color with a blue-green head that has a pink tint and a light silver stripe under the eye and a white cheek and chin and transitioning to white ventrally. They are covered with large yellow or golden spots across the back. The anal fin has a purplish-blue margin, the caudal fin has 8 or 9 bars that are formed with yellow spots, the dorsal fin is gray with yellow rays and spines and the pectoral fins are reddish-brown. They have a relatively deep head with a rounded profile with a large fleshy knob or crest, serrated gill covers with a short blunt spine and a barbel on the rear corner of the top lip of the mouth. Their anal fin has 1 spine and 14 rays; their caudal fin is straight with slightly extended tips; and their dorsal fin has 7 spines and 15 rays. They have 22 to 26 gill rakers. Their body is covered with rough scales.
The Tilefish are a slow-growing long-lived species that are found demersal within clay, sand, silt and mud bottoms at depths between 76 m (250 feet) and 550 m (1,800 feet), with water temperatures between 8oC (46oF) and 17oC (63oF), on the outer continental shelf, shelf break, and upper slope. They inhabit a unique burrowing network and are non-migratory, making them sitting ducks for commercial fishermen. The adults remain in these burrows throughout their life which they expand the length and width as they mature. Each fish has its own burrow with sharing limited to between male and female pairs. The burrows of many fish are in close proximity. They are not a schooling species. They reach a maximum of 1.25 m (4 feet 1 inch) in length. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 1.25 m (4 feet 1 inch) in length 25.5 kg (56 lbs) in weight. They are opportunistic omnivores that consume benthic invertebrates including bivalves, crabs, fish, lobsters, salps, and squid and to some extent they do practice cannibalism. Juveniles are preyed upon by dogfish or conger eels which in turn are preyed upon by the adults. The adults are preyed upon by humans and by goosefish. The Tilefish are aggregating spawners with females significantly outnumbering males indicative that they are protogynous hermaphrodites and change from female to male at midlife. Females release on average 2,300,000 non-adhesive buoyant eggs annually which are fertilized externally and hatch and become pelagic larvae within 48 hours. As they mature the juveniles settle out seeking shelter in burrows within the substrate. They are sexually dimorphic with males growing faster and becoming larger than female but have shorter life spans. The females take fie to seven years to reach sexual maturity; the males five years. They have a lifespan of up to forty years.
The Tilefish is a resident of Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean but have a limited distribution being found only in the central and western portions of the Gulf of Mexico from Tabasco to as far east as the west coast of the Yucatán Peninsula.
The Tilefish is straightforward to identify and cannot be confused with any other tilefish, as it is the only tilefish with an abundance of large yellow spots across its blue-green back and lighter yellow or pink sides and the prominent crest on its head.
From a conservation perspective the Tilefish is currently considered to be Endangered primarily due to habitat degradation and overfishing by both commercial and recreational fishermen. Although they have a wide distribution and reside in very deep habitats they are long lived and grow slowly with a long reproductive cycle. They are also non-migratory with a very small home range making them sitting ducks for commercial and recreational fishermen. They are currently heavily regulated but overall population assessments show that they continue to be in decline. Efforts have included establishing a significantly reduced daily catch limit, commercial fishery closures and the ban of deep water trawlers from certain areas to preserve their native habitats. Catch levels from Mexican waters are poorly documented, monitored or regulated. They are caught at a small level as a by-catch in the Mexican Red Grouper fishery but are not a common market fish. The Tilefish has been fished continually for centuries both recreational and commercial fishermen as it is highly sought after due to the quality of its white meat which is marketed fresh or frozen. Catches are made primarily by longline, otter trawls, gill nets and handlines. Due to the intense fishing pressure the majority of fish are harvested well before they reach sexual maturity.