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Stereolepis gigas Ayres, 1859

Giant seabass
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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Stereolepis gigas   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Stereolepis gigas
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United States (contiguous states) country information

Common names: Black sea bass, Giant sea bass, Sea bass
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Rare north of southen California (Ref. 2850).
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann, 1983
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Acropomatiformes (Oceanic basses) > Stereolepididae (Giant seabasses)
Etymology: Stereolepis: Greek, stereos = dense + Greek,lepis = scale (Ref. 45335).
  More on author: Ayres.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range 5 - 46 m (Ref. 2850).   Subtropical; 41°N - 16°N

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Pacific: Humboldt Bay in California, USA to Mexico. Northwest Pacific: Japan (Ref. 559).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 250 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); max. published weight: 255.6 kg (Ref. 4699); max. reported age: 75 years (Ref. 4563)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occur on rock bottoms; near shore, outside kelp beds and along drop-offs (Ref. 2850). Large specimens usually found deeper than 30 m, small ones over sand and in kelp beds mostly from 12-21 m (Ref. 2850). Aggregate for spawning in summer (Ref. 2850). Pelagic spawners (Ref. 56049). Longevity of 90 to 100 years (Ref. 56049) stemmed from speculation on the age of a 557 lb fish caught in 1962, but the oldest age determined from otoliths of a 435 lb fish was 72 to75 years (Ref. 4563). Validated age so far is up to >50 years using bomb radiocarbon (A.H. Andrews, pers. comm.)

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Pelagic spawner (Ref. 56049).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Sedberry, George | Collaborators

Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann, 1983. A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p. (Ref. 2850)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Critically Endangered (CR) (A1bd); Date assessed: 30 April 2004

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO(Fisheries: production; publication : search) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 14.8 - 23, mean 20.9 (based on 48 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.8125   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01122 (0.00514 - 0.02450), b=3.04 (2.87 - 3.21), in cm Total Length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.5   ±0.80 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (tm=11; tmax=75; also Musick et al. 2000 (Ref. 36717)).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (86 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High vulnerability (63 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.