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cernier

Atlantic wreckfish or stone bass

Polyprion americanus (Wreckfish) in Sala Maremagnum of Aquarium Finisterrae, in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain.

Polyprion americanus. The Atlantic fish of many names: in French it’s usually a cernier but can be a cabot de bosques, mérou de bosques, or mérou fanfré because it looks rather like a merou (grouper).

It hangs around reefs and shipwrecks, can live up to 90 years and grow up to nearly 7ft long. It is increasingly marketed in English speaking countries as the nicer sounding stone bass or bass grouper...confusing it with the meagre, or maigre, which is also sold as stone bass.

Fish and seafood

Text © Dana Facaros

Image by Fernando Losada Rodríguez