Serranus tabacarius

• Overview
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Family : Sea basses: groupers and fairy basslets ; Inhabits shallow rocky or coral bottoms with clear water[1]. In groups on deeper reefs[2]. Synchronously hermaphroditic . Negligible commercial value due to its small size[1]. Sometimes follows goatfishes (family Mullidae) as they probe the sand for invertebrates [3].

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Family Serranidae

Distribution: Tropical and temperate oceans. Some enter freshwater . Operculum bearing 3 spines - a main spine with one below and one above it. Lateral line complete and continuous, not reaching onto caudal fin (lacking in one species). Dorsal fin may be notched , with 7-12 spines. Three spines on anal fin. Caudal fin usually rounded , truncate , or lunate ; rarely forked . Tip of maxilla exposed even with mouth closed . No scaly axillary pelvic process . One spine on pelvic fin; soft rays 5. Branchiostegal rays usually 7. Vertebrae 24-26. Monoecious with some functional hermaphrodites; groupers are protogynous hermaphrodites. Anthiinae are mostly small colorful planktivores feeding primarily on tiny crustaceans and fish eggs . They change sex from females to a few dominant males. Despite their attractive colors they need zooplankton as food and are thus not well suited for aquariums . Groupers attain up to 3 m maximum length and weights of up to 400 kg . They are bottom-dwelling predators and highly commercial food fish . Groupers are hardy aquarium fish, but grow rapidly. Grammistinae get their name from a bitter tasting skin toxin , grammistin, which can kill other animals in an aquarium. They feed on crustaceans and fishes .The family Serranidae belongs to the Class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) and the Order Perciformes. It contains 62 genera and 449 species. It may be found in Marine , Brackish , and Freshwater environments and is primarily Marine. Many members of this family are used in the aquarium trade. Reproductively, most members of this family are nonguarders. The main mode of swimming of adult fish in this family is subcarangiform. Compared with other fish, the activity level of this family tends to be normal. Members of this family have been dated back to the Eocene epoch of the Tertiary period. Etymology of this family name : Latin, serranus = derived from saw, fish saw. 1803

Habitat

Typically found in water with a depth of 0 to -5,007 meters (0 to -16,427 feet).[4]

Biome: Saltwater . Reef-associated .

Taxonomy

Unambiguous Synonyms

1. Centropristes tabacarius Cuvier, 1829

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Similar Species

Members of the genus Serranus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 365 species and subspecies in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

S. abdominalis · S. acanthophorus · S. accraensis (Ghanean Comber) · Mycteroperca rubra · S. aeneus · S. aequidens (Deepwater Serrano) · S. africanus · S. akaara · S. alatus · S. albo-maculatus · S. alboguttatus · S. albomaculatus · S. alexandrinus · S. altivelioides · S. altivelis · S. altus · S. amblycephalus · S. amboinensis · S. analis · S. angularis · S. angustifrons · S. annularis (Orangeback Bass) · S. anthias · S. apiarius · S. apiarus · S. ara · Mycteroperca bonaci · Epinephelus flavocaeruleus · S. areolatus japonicus · S. argus · Pristipomoides zonatus · Mycteroperca rubra · S. assabensis · S. atrarius · S. atricauda (Blacktail Comber) · S. atrobranchus (Blackear Bass) · S. aurantius · S. auriga · S. australis · S. awoara · S. baldwini (Baldwin´s Serranid) · S. bataviensis · S. biguttatus · S. bivittatus · S. boelang · S. boenack · S. boenak · S. bonaci · S. bontoides · S. bontoo · S. borbonicus · S. borbonius · S. brighami · Epinephelus radiatus · S. budensis · S. psittacinus · S. cabrila · S. cabrilla (Learned Rockfich) · S. calopteryx · S. camelopardalis · S. caninus · S. capeuna · S. capreolus · S. carauna · S. cardinalis · S. carinatus · S. casdinalis · S. castelnaui · S. catus · S. celebicus · S. celebicus multipunctatus · Epinephelus marginatus · Variola louti · S. chabaudi · S. chionaraia (Snow Bass) · S. chlorocephalus · S. chlorostigma · S. chrysotaenia · S. cichlops · S. clathratus · S. coeruleopunctatus · S. coioides · S. colonus · S. conceptionis · S. confertus · S. conspersus · S. corallicola · S. coromandelicus · S. coronatus · S. couchii · S. courtadei · S. crapao · S. creolus · Cephalopholis nigri · S. cruentus · Acanthistius sebastoides · S. cyanopodus · Cephalopholis taeniops · S. cyanostigmatoides · S. cyclopomatus

More Info

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Further Reading

• Acero, A.P. (1985). Zoogeographical implications of the distribution of selected families of Caribbean coral reef fishes. Proc. of the Fifth International Coral Reef Congress, Tahiti, Vol. 5.
• Alleng, G.P. (1997). The fauna of the Port Royal Mangal, Kingston, Jamaica. Studies on the Natural History of the Caribbean Region 73:25-42.
• Bouchon-Navaro, Y. and M. Louis (1986). Les poissons des formations corallienes de la Martinique. Ann. Inst. Océanogr., Paris 62(2):251-270.
• Böhlke, J.E. and C.C.G. Chaplin (1993). Fishes of the Bahamas and adjacent tropical waters. 2nd edition. University of Texas Press, Austin.
• Cervigón, F., R. Cipriani, W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, M. Hendrickx, A.J. Lemus, R. Márquez, J.M. Poutiers, G. Robaina and B. Rodriguez (1992). Fichas FAO de identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca. Guía de campo de las especies comerciales ma
• Claro, R. (1994). Características generales de la ictiofauna. p. 55-70. In R. Claro (ed.) Ecología de los peces marinos de Cuba. Instituto de Oceanología Academia de Ciencias de Cuba and Centro de Investigaciones de Quintana Roo.
• Claro, Rodolfo, and Lynne R. Parenti / Claro, Rodolfo, Kenyon C. Lindeman, and L. R. Parenti, eds. 2001. Chapter 2: The Marine Ichthyofauna of Cuba. Ecology of the Marine Fishes of Cuba. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington, DC, USA. 21-57. ISBN: 1-56098-985-8.
• Final environmental impact statement prepared on the proposed Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary. [Washington, D.C.]: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Coastal Zone Management, [1980] ENG url p. 17.
• Humann, P. (1994). Reef fish identification: Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas. New World Publications, Jacksonville, Florida. 426 p.
• Ogden, J.C., J.A. Yntema, and I. Clavijo (1975). An annotated list of the fishes of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Spec. Publ. No. 3.
• Randall, J.E. (1996). Caribbean reef fishes. Third Edition - revised and enlarged. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd., Hong Kong. 3nd ed. 368 p.
• 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.
• Robins, Richard C., Reeve M. Bailey, Carl E. Bond, James R. Brooker, Ernest A. Lachner, et al. 1980. A List of Common and Scientific Names of Fishes from the United States and Canada, Fourth Edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication, no. 12. American Fisheries Society. Bethesda, Maryland, USA. 174.
• Sadovy, Y. (1992). A preliminary assessment of the marine aquarium export trade in Puerto Rico. Proceedings of the Seventh International Coral Reef Symposium, Guam, Vol. 2, p. 1014-1021.
• Smith, C.L. (1978). Serranidae. In W. Fischer (ed.) FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. West Atlantic (Fishing Area 31). volume 4. [pag. var.]. FAO, Rome.
• Smith, C.L. (1997). National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.

Notes

Contributors

• American Fisheries Society. Common and Scientific Names of Fishes from the United states, Canada, and Mexico Sixth Edition. Special Publication 29.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed April 5, 2007.
• FishBase
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 02, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 5 providers.
• Heemstra, Phillip C. (from FishBase).

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 02, 2008:

• FishBase: FishBase DiGIR Provider - Philippine Server
• Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History: Vertebrate specimens
• Museum national d'histoire naturelle: Ichtyologie
• Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University: MCZ Fish Collection
• Royal Ontario Museum: Fish specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2501931
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Fis-24995
• Fishbase Species ID: 3349
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 167859
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 124809

Footnotes

1. Cervigón, F., R. Cipriani, W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, M. Hendrickx, A.J. Lemus, R. Márquez, J.M. Poutiers, G. Robaina and B. Rodriguez (1992). Fichas FAO de identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca. Guía de campo de las especies comerciales ma [back]
2. Lieske, E. and R. Myers (1994). Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 p. [back]
3. Smith, C.L. (1997). National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p. [back]
4. Mean = -2,602.500 meters (-8,538.386 feet), Standard Deviation = 2,978.990 based on 8 observations. Ocean depth information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

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