Prionotus carolinus
Northern Searobin
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Scorpaeniformes (Lionfish, Stonefish and others)
Triglidae (Searobins)
Prionotus
Prionotus carolinus (Northern Searobin)
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.)
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Characters
Body shape: elongated.
Distribution
Western Atlantic: Nova Scotia in Canada to central Florida in USA. Gulf of Mexico (Ref. 26938).
Habitat Associations
Brackish, marine. demersal. depth range 15-170 m.
Biology
Occurs on sandy bottom. Feeds on shrimps, crabs, other crustaceans, squid, bivalves and small fishes. Produces loud, drumming sound by vibrating its swim bladder (Ref. 9988). Used both for food and fish meal; other uses include bait for lobster traps and flatfish, handlines, pet food and fertilizer. Utilized fresh and frozen; also used for caviar ; can be broiled and baked (Ref. 9988).
Max length: 38.0 cm TL; common length: 30.0 cm TL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Oviparous (Ref. 37799).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-08-22. Resilience: Medium (K=0.3).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial.
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.
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.
Richards, W.J. (1996) Triglidae: searobins. p. 797-805. In H.G. Moser (ed.) The early stages of fishes in the California Current region. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) Atlas No. 33. 1505 p.
Patzner, R.A. (2008) Reproductive strategies of fish. pp. 311-350. In Rocha, M.J., A. Arukwe and B.G. Kapoor (eds). Fish reproduction: cytology, biology and ecology. Science Publisher, Inc. Oxford. 631 p.
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