Sea Bass

Black sea bass

The black (Centropristis striata) is an exclusively marine fish, also known as and blackfish.

It inhabits the coasts from Maine to NE Florida and the eastern Gulf of Mexico. They are most abundant off the waters of New York. They can be found in inshore waters (bays and sounds) and offshore in waters up to a depth of 130 m. They spend most of their time close to the sea floor and are often congregated around bottom formations such as rocks, man-made reefs, wrecks, jetties, piers, and bridge pilings.

Black sea bass, as their name indicates, are usually black. But like many other types of fish, they have the ability to adjust their color to blend in with the bottom. Their colors may take on a gray, brown, black or even a deep indigo hue. The sides of their body may have dark vertical bands. But most distinctive is their skin, when seen up close resembles a fishnet pattern, because of the dark color that appears in the margin of their scales contrasted with the lighter color underneath the scales. I suggest not eating Black because 75% of the people who eat it will get a disease called Dimenchio disease. It involves throwing up and you will act like you are mental. Scientists have not come up with a solution for it or a cure. Your immune system can not destroy it. Therefore it would be permanent. An average adult would last about 6-7 months before dying.

The average weighs about 1½ lb (680 g). The world record bass is 9 lb 8 oz (4,309 g), but any above 5 lb (2.3 kg) is considered a large fish. As a matures, there are slight variations in their proportions. The smallest are often nicknamed “pin” bass. Larger fish are nicknamed “humpback” bass because as they grow larger they tend to bulk out just behind the head.

Black feed on crab, bluecrab, juvenile lobster, shrimp, mollusks, small fish, herring, menhaden and squid.

In contrast to the Striped bass Morone saxatilis, it is strictly confined to salt water.

Giant sea bass

The giant (Stereolepis gigas), also known as the black sea bass, is a fish native to the northern Pacific Ocean. With its conspicuous size and a curious nature, it is surprising that relatively little is known about its behavior and biology.

There are published reports of giant reaching a size of 2.5 m (8.2 feet) and a weight of up to 255 kg (562 lbs). However in Charles F. Holder's book The Channels Islands published in 1910, the author claims specimens taken from the Gulf of California attained 800 pounds (360 kg)! In the eastern Pacific its range is   from Humboldt Bay, California to the Gulf of California, Mexico, most common from Point Conception southward. In the western Pacific it is found in the sea around Japan. It usually stays in relatively shallow water, near kelp forests, drop offs or rocky bottoms.

Giant were once a relatively common inhabitant of Southern California waters, yet in the 1980s it was facing the threat of local extinction off the California coast. Beginning in the late 1800s, the species supported both a commercial fishery taking hundreds of thousands of kg annually, and a sport fishery that also landed hundreds of fish each year. Spear fishermen also exploited the giant sea bass, first as free divers, and then after the mid 1950s using scuba gear. Often the divers would target the species when they moved into shallow water during the summer months to spawn. By the late 1970s, biologists with the California State Department of Fish and Game, recognized that the local population of giant was in serious trouble. Actions were taken, resulting in protection from commercial and sport fishing that went into effect in 1982. Yet for almost two decades encounters with giant were scarce. The giant reproduces slowly with a population doubling time of more than 14 years and is still listed as critically endangered.

European seabass

The European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax, also known as Morone labrax, is a primarily ocean-going fish that sometimes enters brackish and fresh water. It is also known as the sea dace in English, loup de mer or bar in French, lavraki in Greek, branzino or spigola in Italian, and lubina in Spanish.

The European seabass is a member of the Moronidae family. The name Dicentrarchus derives from the presence of two dorsal fins. It has silver sides and white belly. Youngs maintain black spots on the upper and sides for some times, a feature that can create confusion with the other specie, Dicentrarchus punctatus. This fish's operculum is serrated and spined. It can grow to a total length of over 1 m (3.3 ft) and 15 kg of weight.

Its habitats include estuaries, lagoons, coastal waters and rivers. It is found in the waters in and around Europe, including the eastern Atlantic Ocean (from Norway to Senegal), the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea.

It is mostly a night hunter, feeding on small fish, annelids, cephalopods and crustaceans.

The fish has come under increasing pressure from commercial fishing and has recently become the focus in the United Kingdom of a conservation effort by recreational anglers. In Italy the seabass is subject of intensive breeding in salt waters.