Black sea bass

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the Atlantic black sea bass. For Pacific black sea bass, see giant sea bass.

Black sea bass

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Serranidae
Subfamily: Serraninae
Genus: Centropristis
Species:
C. striata
Binomial name
Centropristis striata
Synonyms[2]
  • Labrus striatus Linnaeus, 1758
  • Perca atraria Linnaeus, 1766
  • Perca furva Walbaum, 1792
  • Coryphaena nigrescens Bloch & Schneider, 1801
  • Perca varia Mitchill, 1814
  • Centropristis melana Ginsburg, 1952

The black sea bass (Centropristis striata) is a species of marine

ray-finned fish, a sea bass from the subfamily Serraninae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the groupers and anthias
. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean, where it is an important species for commercial and recreational fisheries.

Description

The black sea bass has an oblong, laterally compressed body. It has a large mouth, armed with bands of teeth on the jaw and with a triangular patch of teeth in the front part roof of the mouth and more teeth along the sides of that area, the mouth extending as far as below the middle of the eye. The

caudal fin has three lobes created by the long and pointed upper, middle and lower rays.[3] The colour pattern is normally smoky grey, dusky brown or blue-black on the back and upper body, fading towards the underside. In the middle of each scale there is a pale blue to white spot and these form longitudinal stripes along the back and flanks.[4] The dorsal fin has a series of white spots and bands along its length.[5] The flanks can frequently appear mottled or have dark and light vertical barring. In the breeding season the males develop bright fluorescent blue and green around the eyes and nape[4] and a hump on the head[5] contrasting with the paler and duller females which are brownish or blue-grey in colour. The juveniles are found in four colour phases; the first is an overall light grey phase which has small dark spots, there is a dark phase which has pale white spots, a striped phase with a longitudinal dark stripe and a barred phase which has six vertical bars.[4] This species attains a maximum total length of 66 centimetres (26 in), however they are normally found at a total length of around 30 centimetres (12 in), and a maximum published weight of 4.1 kilograms (9.0 lb).[6]

Distribution

The black sea bass is found in the western Atlantic Ocean from Nova Scotia south along the eastern coast of North America as far as the Florida Keys and into the Gulf of Mexico as far as Louisiana where the western limit is just to the west of the Mississippi Delta.[1]

Habitat and biology

The black sea bass is commonly found in the vicinity of rock jetties and over rocky substrates in shallow water, although they have also been recorded in deeper, offshore waters to depths of 130 metres (430 ft). They spend most of their time near the bottom where they frequently aggregate around features on the bottom such as piles of rocks, wrecks and man-made structures. It is often encountered resting in either a head-down or head-up position. Normally the dorsal fin is folded down but will be raised and spread out as an aggressive signal to other members of its own species. The juveniles remain in the protected estuarine waters where they are found around man-made structures, wrecks and over shell substrates.

weakfish (Cynoscion regalis), little skate (Leucoraja erinacea), spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias), bignose shark (Carcharhinus altimus) and dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus).[4][5] Females live to around 8 years of age while males can live to 12 years old.[5]

Taxonomy

The black sea bass was first formally

type locality as America.[7] When the French anatomist and zoologist Georges Cuvier created the genus Centropristis he used Bloch and Schneider's 1801 Coryphaenus nigrescens as the type species for the new genus, this is a synonym of Linnaeus's Labrus striatus so the black sea bass is the type species of the genus Centropristis.[2] The generic name is a compound of the Greek words kentron meaning "a saw" and pristis which means "sting".[6]

Utilisation

Black sea bass are highly sought after by recreational and commercial fisherman,

otter trawls, hook and line and in pots or traps. They have shown some promise in aquaculture but have not been farmed commercially yet.[8] In sheltered environments the black sea bass can attain a high growth rate but this does not lead to long-term survival of their populations.[9]

  • Adult black sea bass being stripped for eggs
    Adult black sea bass being stripped for eggs
  • Juveniles
    Juveniles
  • Black sea bass at Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary in Georgia
    Black sea bass at Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary in Georgia

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T16435325A16510242.en
    . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Centropristis". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  3. ^ "Species: Centropristis striata, Black seabass". Shorefishes of the Greater Caribbean online information system. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Centropristis striata". Disciover Fishes. Florida Museum. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Black Sea Bass". NOAA. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  6. ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2019). "Centropristis striata" in FishBase. December 2019 version.
  7. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Labrus striatus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Black sea bass". Chefs Resources Inc. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  9. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2109.2003.00956.x
    .

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black_sea_bass&oldid=1180442515"