Marine life  /  Other fish  /  Cortez chub
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Species entry

Cortez chub

Kyphosus elegans

A grey grazing chub of shallow rock, usually in loose schools in moving water.

Size
To 50 cm
Depth
1–20 m
Habitat
Shallow rock in surge
Active
Daylight
Range
Eastern Pacific
Rarity
Islas Revillagigedo
2 stars of 5, usually seen in a week
SP-01
cortez chub · full body · habitat
4:3 · min 2400px

To about 50 cm, though one source gives 38. Oval and compressed with a small pointed head and the snout sloping down abruptly just before the eyes, dark grey to silvery grey with faint brownish stripes between the scale rows. It can switch on a pattern of numerous eye-sized white spots within seconds.

That abrupt snout profile, and the absence of brassy stripes, separates it from the brassy chub.

Nought to about forty metres on shallow rock and coral, in large schools, grazing attached algae and occasionally taking plankton.

Where to find:

LocationRarity Best monthsDepthHabitat
Islas Revillagigedo Mexico editorial estimate
2 stars of 5, usually seen in a week
Year-round
1–20 m
Shallow rock in surge

Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.

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