Description: pale olive or
brassy brown in color with indistinct black blotches that form vertical
barrings (the blotch above pectoral fin darker); wavy blue lines on head;
lips purplish-blue; caudal fin tri-lobed on adults; edge of nape unscaled.
Similar Fish: rock sea
bass C. philadelphica; other Centropristis.
Where found: OFFSHORE in
deep water with rocks and reefs.
Size: usually 0.3 pound
(8 inches).
*Florida Record: n/a
Remarks: undergoes sex
change, starting life as female, changing to male after three or four
spawning seasons; feeds on the bottom, taking squid, crustaceans, and
small fish.
* The Florida records
quoted are from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's
printed publication, Fishing
Lines and are not necessarily the most current ones. The records are
provided as only as a benchmark.
