Species: Serranus luciopercanus, Crosshatch Bass

Serranus luciopercanus Poey, 1852

Crosshatch Bass

Body elongate, moderately compressed; snout long, 12-14% of SL; lower jaw strongly projecting; rear of top jaw exposed when mouth closed, without accessory bone above it; 3 opercular spines well developed, middle spine enlarged, upcurved; preopercle regularly serrated, no spur with enlarged spines; gill rakers 20-24; dorsal fin X, 11-12 spiny part high, 4th spine longest; anal fin III, 7; pelvics inserted before pectoral base; pectoral fin 14; tail fin forked, upper lobe longer, 13-15 branched rays; scales rough, relatively large, 8-10 rows of scales on cheek; 50-55 pored lateral line scales; top of head without scales.

Head grey above, whitish below, body whitish; an irregular black stripe along lower side from mouth to lower edge of tail fin; another irregular, broken stripe from snout, through eye, along flank to upper tail fin base, that stripe grey-brown on head, black on body; elongate dark blotches above the mid-body stripe, on head and under the spiny dorsal; elongate black saddles under dorsal fin, the front one extending onto front of dorsal fin as a large black blotch; tail fin with narrowly black lobes and a clear center; pelvics white, anal and soft dorsal translucent.

Reaches 15 cm.

On reefs.

Depth range: 60-300 m.

The Bahamas to the S Caribbean.