Credit: Illustration by Diane Rome Peebles
Family Serranidae
Description: pale olive or brassy-brown in color with indistinct black blotches that form vertical berrings (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 pounds (8 inches)
Remarks: undergoes sex change, starting life as female, changing to male after three to four spawning seasons; feeds on the bottom, taking squid, crustaceans, and small fish
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