scamp
Mycteroperca phenax Jordan & Swain, 1884
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

A juvenile scamp, Mycteroperca phenax, on a deep patch reef at West Flower Garden Bank. Water depth 310 feet.
Photo by D. Weaver, FGBNMS. · Public domain · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 320 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The scamp grouper (Mycteroperca phenax), also known as scamp, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean.
Wikipedia contributors, Scamp grouper; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:24:13.820666+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Mycteroperca phenax Jordan & Swain, 1884
- Name authority
- Jordan & Swain, 1884
- Common name
- scamp
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Epinephelidae
- Genus
- Mycteroperca
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderPerciformes
- suborderPercoidei
- familyEpinephelidae Bleeker, 1874
- genusMycteroperca Gill, 1862
- speciesMycteroperca phenax Jordan & Swain, 1884
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Mycteroperca. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| western comb grouperMycteroperca acutirostris (Valenciennes, 1828) | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mycteroperca fusca (Lowe, 1838) | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| monkeyMycteroperca interstitialis (Poey, 1860) | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gulf grouperMycteroperca jordani (Jenkins & Evermann, 1889) | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| finescale rockfishMycteroperca microlepis (Goode & Bean, 1879) | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mycteroperca olfax (Jenyns, 1840) | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| sawtail grouperMycteroperca prionura Rosenblatt & Zahuranec, 1967 | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| gag rockfishMycteroperca tigris (Valenciennes, 1833) | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| princess rockfishMycteroperca venenosa (Linnaeus, 1758) | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| broomtail grouperMycteroperca xenarcha Jordan, 1888 | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| leopard grouperMycteroperca rosacea (Streets, 1877) | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| black grouperMycteroperca bonaci (Poey, 1860) | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Labrus gvaza Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758 | ambiguous synonym |
| Mycteroperca falcata var. phenax Jordan & Swain, 1884 Jordan & Swain, 1884 | synonym |
| Mycteroperca falcata phenax Jordan & Swain, 1884 Jordan & Swain, 1884 | synonym |
| Labrus guaza Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758 | ambiguous synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Jordan, D. S., & Swain, J. (1884). A review of the American species of Epinephelus and related genera. Proceedings of the United States National Museum, v. 7 (no. 447): 358–410. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00963801.7-447.358 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:44ZPB. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.