Hogfish Mounts

HOGFISH INFORMATION

Hogfish are well known for their food quality, they are absolutely delicious. They are also known to be a favorite of anglers here in Florida and wherever they are caught. Spear fishing is an extremely popular way of catching this species, as they aren’t easily caught with rod and reel.

Though hogfish are sometimes called hog snapper, they are not a member of the snapper family. They feed on mollusks, urchins, crabs and other crustaceans. They can be found around tropical reefs, using their elongated pig-like snout to root around the sea floor, hence the name.

Regarding marine conservation, these are very protected fish. In Atlantic federal waters including the Florida Keys only 1 fish is allowed per person. In Gulf waters, however, the daily bag limit is raised to five. The seasons in the Gulf is also year-round, versus the May-November seasons for the Atlantic.

Interesting Facts About Hogfish

• The IGFA world record hogfish weighed 21 pounds, 15 ounces and was caught off of Charleston, South Carolina. There was a monster hogfish that was speared in the Gulf 100 miles off the Florida coast that weighed 21 pounds, 11 ounces (after being gutted).
• Hogfish are regarded as one of the best tasting fish on Earth. Without a doubt this is why they are so overfished and heavily protected in most waters.
• Though widely known as hog snapper, they are actually not a snapper at all but a member of the wrasse family and more closely related to the parrot fish.
• The hogfish is a sequential hermaphrodite, which means it will actually change it’s sex throughout it’s lifetime. Born female, hogfish will mature to become male at around the 3-year mark.
• A large male hogfish can attract and mate with multiple females, forming little fish ‘harems’ along tropical reefs in 10-100 feet of water.
• They can grow up to 30 inches in length, weigh up to around 20 pounds, and live as long as 10 years.
• This particular species of wrasse, Lachnolaimus maximus, is the only known member of it’s genus.