hogchoker
Trinectes maculatus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
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.
Hogchoker, Trinectes maculatus. Rhode River, Edgewater, Anne Arundel County, MD - 08/11/19. Photo by Robert Aguilar, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center · CC BY 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 320 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The hogchoker (Trinectes maculatus) is a small species of flatfish found along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of North and South America, ranging from Massachusetts to Venezuela. They prefer brackish water, and the nominate subspecies is abundant in many bays and estuaries north of the Carolinas (the southern subspecies T. m. fasciatus replaces it south of the Carolinas). It is a member of the American sole family Achiridae. They are usually brown to dark brown in color, and lighter on their "blind side" (side lacking an eye). The overall body color is often broken by a series of spots and thin stripes, which can be lighter or darker than the main body color. The fins and tail have fringed edges helping hide the fish from its prey. They mainly feed on small aquatic insects and invertebrates.
Wikipedia contributors, Hogchoker; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:35:34.046916+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Trinectes maculatus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
- Name authority
- (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
- Common name
- hogchoker
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Pleuronectiformes
- Family
- Achiridae
- Genus
- Trinectes
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: yes · 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
- orderPleuronectiformes
- suborderPleuronectoidei
- familyAchiridae Rafinesque, 1815
- genusTrinectes Rafinesque, 1832
- speciesTrinectes maculatus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Trinectes. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Trinectes opercularis (Nichols & Murphy, 1944) | AchiridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| southern hogchokerTrinectes paulistanus (Miranda Ribeiro, 1915) | AchiridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Trinectes xanthurus Walker & Bollinger, 2001 | AchiridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Trinectes microphthalmus (Chabanaud, 1928) | AchiridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| spottedfin soleTrinectes fonsecensis (Günther, 1862) | AchiridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| whitespotted soleTrinectes fimbriatus (Günther, 1862) | AchiridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Trinectes fluviatilis (Meek & Hildebrand, 1928) | AchiridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Trinectes hubbsbollinger Duplain, Chapleau & Munroe, 2012 | AchiridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| scrawled soleTrinectes inscriptus (Gosse, 1851) | AchiridaeChordata | 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 |
|---|---|
| Pleuronectes maculatus Bloch & Schneider, 1801 Bloch & Schneider, 1801 | synonym |
| Pleuronectes mollis Mitchill, 1814 Mitchill, 1814 | synonym |
| Trinectes fasciatus (Lacepède, 1802) (Lacepède, 1802) | synonym |
| Trinectes scabra Rafinesque, 1832 Rafinesque, 1832 | synonym |
| Achirus fasciatus Lacepède, 1802 Lacepède, 1802 | 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.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=159271 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:58VGD. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.