Centropristis striata
Black Sea Bass
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Collection Details
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Serranidae (Sea Basses and Groupers)
Centropristis
Centropristis striata (Black Sea Bass)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Dermal flaps on dorsal fin spines very short; anterior and posterior nares close set, posterior margin of anterior naris developed into large flap; upper jaw extends to center of eye; eye diameter greater than interorbital width; jaw teeth in wide bands, inner and outer teeth slightly enlarged; vomerine teeth in wedge-shaped patch; teeth on palatine in long, narrow patch; tongue lacks teeth; preoperculum posterior margin finely serrate, angle and ventral margin coarsely serrate; gill rakers on first arch long and slender, 21-29 (usually 22 or 23); head length 39%-44% SL, snout length 8%-14% SL, orbital length 6%-12% SL, interorbital width 5%-9% SL, body depth 31%-38% SL; pectoral fin rays 14-20 (usually 16-19); dorsal fin with 10 spines and 10-12 rays; anal fin with 7 rays; caudal fin rounded in juveniles, trilobed or double concave in adults; scales ctenoid, 10-15 between dorsal fin origin and lateral line, 12-16 between anal fin origin and lateral line; lateral line scales 46-49; vertebrae 24; top of head, suborbital region, maxilla, lower jaw, and snout naked
Color dark to nearly black; dorsal fin with obscure bars, white stripes, or horizontal rows of stripes; body often with narrow pale stripes formed by pale spots on center of each scale; upper and lower margins of caudal fin white; juveniles pale gray with broad dark stripe along side, large black spot near end of spinous section of dorsal fin, and turquoise streaks below eye
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Maine to Florida Keys and eastern Gulf of Mexico
Known in Gulf of Mexico only from west coast of Florida, from Pensacola to Placida
Habitat Associations
Between shoreline and 75 m; associated with hard bottoms; inner continental shelf
Hard bottoms
Biology
Mollusks, caridean and penaeid shrimps, crabs, and ray-finned fishes
Protogynous hermaphrodite; females mature between one and four years at lengths up to 190 mm SL, and change to males at three to seven years at lengths of 230 mm SL; spawning takes place between fall and spring
Commonly found around rock jetties and on rocky bottoms in shallow water. Marketed fresh and eaten fried, broiled and baked (Ref. 9988).
Max length: 66.0 cm TL; common length: 30.0 cm TL; max weight: 4300 g; max age: 20 years.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-08-21. Resilience: Medium (K=0.23-0.46; tmax=20).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish; aquarium: public aquariums.
References
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
Frimodt, C. (1995) Multilingual illustrated guide to the world's commercial coldwater fish. Fishing News Books, Osney Mead, Oxford, England. 215 p.
Hood, P.B., M.F. Godcharles and R.S. Barco (1994) Age, growth, reproduction and the feeding ecology of Black Sea bass, Centropristis striata (Pisces: Serranidae), in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Bull. Mar. Sci. 54(1):24-37.
Bowman, R.E., C.E. Stillwell, W.L. Michaels and M.D. Grosslein (2000) Food of northwest Atlantic fishes and two common species of squid. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-NE 155, 138 p.
Lavenda, N. (1949) Sexual differences and normal protogynous hermaphroditism in the Atlantic sea bass Centropristes striatus. Copeia 1949(3):185-194.
IGFA (2001) Database of IGFA angling records until 2001. IGFA, Fort Lauderdale, USA.
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