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A Virtual Museum on the State's Fish Biodiversity

Centropomus nigrescens

Black Snook
Collection Details

Event Specimens

Photos

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Records

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes) Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri) Centropomidae (Snooks) Centropomus Centropomus nigrescens (Black Snook)

Description

This species account was compiled from FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.) and processed using AI-assisted text extraction. It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting. When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page. Learn more about our species accounts.

Characters

Body shape: fusiform / normal. Body slender and not very deep; dorsal profile slightly concave behind the eyes; lateral line extending to posterior edge of caudal fin; second anal spine, when folded down, well removed from origin of caudal fin; pectoral and pelvic fins sub-equal; anal fin with 6 rays; back blue gray; belly white; lateral line very dark; fins charcoal gray (Ref. 55763).

Distribution

Eastern Pacific: southern Baja California, Mexico and mouth of the Gulf of California to Colombia and Peru.

Habitat Associations

Freshwater, brackish, marine. demersal. Found in: streams, estuaries.

Biology

Adults enter mangrove areas and lagoons. Also occur in estuaries (Ref. 11035) and fresh water (Ref. 4537), as well as rustic ponds (Ref. 85798).
Max length: 123.0 cm TL; common length: 45.0 cm TL; max weight: 26190 g.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders; parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2018-11-09. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).

Commercial or Environmental Importance

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish.

References

Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Bussing, W.A. (1995) Centropomidae. Róbalos. p. 987-995. In W. Fischer, F. Krupp, W. Schneider, C. Sommer, K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) Guia FAO para Identification de Especies para lo Fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. 3 Vols. FAO, Rome.
González, G.D. and L.A. Soto (1988) Hábitos alimentícios de peces depredadores del sistema lagunar Huizache-Caimanero, Sinaloa, México. Inst. Cienc. del Mary Limnol. Univ. Nal. Autón. México 15(1)97-124.
IGFA (2001) Database of IGFA angling records until 2001. IGFA, Fort Lauderdale, USA.
Jiménez Prado, P. and P. Béarez (2004) Peces Marinos del Ecuador continental. Tomo 2: Guía de Especies / Marine fishes of continental Ecuador. Volume 2: Species Guide. SIMBIOE/NAZCA/IFEA.

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