Ocean Pout

Ocean Pout

Macrozoarces americanus

Size
to 42" and 12 lbs.

Description:
Huge mouth with drooping lips. Anal and caudal fins continuous. Apparently, these are edible, and at times there is some effort on the part of commercial fishermen to catch them. Too ugly for my tastes, though. Pouts like rocky bottoms and structure, from water's edge down to 180 ft. Gregarious.

Ocean Pout
Ocean Pout
Ocean Pout
Pouts are gregarious and don't mind sharing a hole.
Ocean Pout
Ocean Pout
Herb Segars Photography


algae
A garden of green and brown algae grows on a shallow rock. Enteromorpha (Hollow Green Weed) and Fucus (Rockweed)

In our waters, plants and algae are found only in shallow water where sufficient light can penetrate for photosynthesis. It would be unusual to find algae below 10-20 ft, so our wrecks and reefs, despite the profusion of attached organisms, are actually devoid of plant life! Of course, that is completely neglecting the microscopic algal plankton that is so profuse in our waters and so lacking in the clear water of the tropics.