Species: Centropristis philadelphica, Rock Sea Bass

Centropristis philadelphica (Linnaeus, 1758)

Rock Sea Bass

Body oblong, compressed; mouth large, reaching under center of eye; width between eyes 4-6% of SL; rear of top jaw exposed when mouth closed, without scales; teeth on jaws in bands; a triangular patch of teeth at front of roof of mouth, bands of teeth along sides of roof of mouth; preopercle finely serrated, evenly rounded edge; opercle with 3 flat spines; gill rakers 17-22; dorsal fin X, membranes between dorsal fin spines with a filament that extends beyond spine tip, 11; pectorals 15-21; tail fin edge 3 lobed, with upper, middle and lower rays long and pointed; lateral line scales 46-49, 11-18 between lateral line and dorsal origin.

Pale olive grey to brown above, pale below; head with blue stripes before eye, tip of lower jaw purplish; rusty spots on upper body and, especially, head; inside gill chamber black, visible through operculum; body and tail base with ~7 vertical rows of dark blotches forming indistinct bars, dark lines between those blotches forming a grid pattern; a black saddle under rear part of spiny dorsal that extends onto the fin; rest of dorsal fin with two pearly stripes, and red-brown spots; spine tips and filaments orange; tail fin with rows of dark red-brown & pearl spots; anal fin with a broad central orangish stripe.

Reaches 30 cm.

Lives on mud, sand and rocky bottoms.

Depth range: 10-243 m.

Virginia to the Gulf of Mexico.