northern porgy

Open encyclopedia reference

The scup (Stenotomus chrysops) is a fish that occurs primarily in the Atlantic from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Along with many other fish of the family Sparidae, it is also commonly known as porgy. Scup grow as large as 18 in (460 mm) and weigh 3–4 lb (1.4–1.8 kg), but they average 0.5–1.0 lb (0.23–0.45 kg). Scup can live up to 20 years; females can begin to reproduce at the age of two. Every year female scups lay approximately 7,000 eggs in sand and weed abundant areas. In the Middle Atlantic Bight, scup spawn along the inner continental shelf. Their larvae end up in inshore waters, along the coast and in estuarine areas. At two to three years of age, they mature. Scup winter along the mid and outer continental shelf. When the temperature warms in the spring, they migrate inshore. They are fished for by both commercial and recreational fishermen. The scup fishery is one of the oldest in the United States, with records dating back to 1800. Scup was the most abundant fish in colonial times.

Wikipedia contributors, Scup; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:13:49.183148+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Stenotomus chrysops (Linnaeus, 1766)

Name authority

(Linnaeus, 1766)

Common name

northern porgy

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Family

Sparidae

Genus

Stenotomus

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.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. gigaclassActinopterygii
8. superclassActinopteri
9. classTeleostei
10. familySparidae Rafinesque, 1818
11. genusStenotomus Gill, 1865
12. speciesStenotomus chrysops (Linnaeus, 1766)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Stenotomus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 124 records assigned to Sparidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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.

1. https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=159811 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:5265X. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.