WHITE MARGATE

     The white margate is the largest of the fish of the haemulon family, being able to reach 65 cm long and weigh up to 7 kgs. First presented by Catesby in his "History of the Carolinas" in 1742, Cuvier and Valenciennes identified it correctly and gave it its name in 1830 today by naming it "haemulon album" where album means white (alba) because it is the clearest of all members of the haemulon family (grunts in English).
     In the haemulon family, grunts including white margate or haemulon album and black margate or anisotremus virginicus are part of, are particularly popular with fishermen. Quite common in the Florida Keys, white margate is abundant from Key West to Brazil. Most often found in water 20 to 40 m deep, however, it does not hesitate to come to shoals to feed on shellfish.
     With a stocky body compressed laterally, the white margate has a high forehead and a domed back, very light gray to whitish silvery with large scales. The front part of the head is sometimes darker and the muzzle is elongated with a big mouth with thick white lips. Its fins are light gray. Its tail is almost black as well as its second dorsal and ventral fin.
White margate
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     White margates are found swimming above reef corals and between patches of sand and sea grass. Since this fish color is really a sort of shiny gray, it blends in with the sand. With this video shot in the Bahamas in June 2009, this behavior is clearly visible.
    With respect to this fish, you may visit within this site another video shot at Cozumel (Mexico) in June 2016 (see menu item Cozumel of menu Diving).
     You may click on the 4 following links :
link 1 in French,
link 2 in French,
link 3 in English,
or link 4 in English.