When I came to the keys I didn't have a lot of knowledge on the native fish species because of the simple fact that I've never taken the time to learn them. The hogfish was the one fish that I could identify but never really knew anything in depth about it. This week I took the time to learn as much as I could about the hogfish. I learned that the hogfish is a native species of the Western Atlantic Ocean ranging from the Gulf of Mexico to Nova Scotia, Canada. I also learned that they are mostly found on reefs that are plentiful with Gorgonian corals. The hogfish is a species of wrasse that is a sequential hermaphrodite that is protogynous, it changes sex during different life stages, and it starts out as a juvenile female and matures into a male. The hogfish is targeted by spear and reef fisherman because of its delicious taste. I know this from personal experience. This ironically is exactly how I learned what a hogfish was, while reef fishing. One funny observation that I made while taking this picture was that the hogfish are not very predator smart, which makes them a very vulnerable species. The fish in this photo let me get close enough to almost touch it.
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