Coral Reef Fish: White Margate

Video Transcript

"The marine organism we're going to identity now is the White Margate. The White Margate is also simply known as the Margate. It's distinguished from the closely related Black Marget by its high back profile, light color, and small eye with a white iris. Its body is generally pale gray to silvery and its' fins are usually gray. Unlike the Back Margate, the White Margate lacks a dark patch behind its pectoral fins. They can have dusty spots over their body and occasionally three feet stripes above the lateral line. The White Margat is a member of the grunt family and closely related to snappers. The White Margate can be differentiated from the Red Snapper by the white iris of its eye. The Red Snapper has a red snapper. And, the red snapper has a red iris. And, the anal fin is blunt where the red snapper has a pointed anal fin. White Margates are found occasionally throughout the range from Florida, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. White Margates are generally 10 to 20 inches in length. They can reach nearly 2 1/2 feet in length. They inhabit sand flats between patch reefs and are found over sea grass beds. They generally drift over these areas in small groups or as single animals. White Margates feed on benthic or bottom dwelling invertebrates such as worms and urchins. They will often be seen slowly drifting over the sand flats in a nose down position as they search for their favorite foods. That's the White Margate."