Species: Paralabrax clathratus, Kelp bass
side head - 3 bars
back: 2 rows rectangular white blotches
Paralabrax clathratus (Girard, 1854)
Kelp bass
Body moderately deep, compressed; head pointed; snout profile nearly straight; lower jaw projects to join snout profile; mouth extends to under middle of pupil; between eyes relatively narrow (~ 15% of head length in adults), with scales; mouth large; rear of top jaw exposed when mouth closed, without accessory bone above it; teeth fixed; roof of mouth with teeth on sides and center; lower gill rakers 21-24; preopercle finely serrated; dorsal X, 13-14, 3rd & 4th spines equally long, not more than 2x length of 2nd, margin of soft fin angular; anal rays III, 7,7, spines short, 3rd largest; pectoral rounded, 14-15 rays; pelvics inserted under or slightly behind pectoral base; tail with straight to undulating edge, 13-15 branched rays; scales small, rough; lateral line scales 62-68; rear of top jawbone without scales.
Upper head olive-green to brown with irregular pale yellow spots; dark bars along edge of preopercle, and obliquely down center and rear edge of opercle; upper body mottled with black, white and olive-green, with ~ 2 rows of rectangular white blotches in a dark netting pattern; lower head and body cream, with small black spots on lower body; fins olive with yellowish tint; male with chin and lower jaw orangish.
Size: 72 cm; 6.6 kg, 34 years old.
Habitat: macroalgal beds.
Depth: 0-61 m.
California to the tip of Baja.
High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
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- Marine
- Marine Only
- Inshore/Offshore
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- Inshore Only
- Inshore
- Water Column Position
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- Bottom only
- Bottom
- Habitat
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- Submerged vegetation
- Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
- Rocks
- Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
- Reef only
- FishBase Habitat
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- Bentho-Pelagic
- Feeding Group
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- Data
- Carnivore
- Diet
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- Data
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Bony fishes
- Zooplankton
- Octopus/squid/cuttlefish
- Egg Type
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- No data
- Pelagic larva
- Pelagic
- Global Endemism
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- East Pacific endemic
- TEP non-endemic
- All species
- Regional Endemism
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- Continent
- California province, primarily
- Continent only
- Temperate Eastern Pacific, primarily
- Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic
- All species
- Residency
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- Vagrant
- Climate Zone
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- North Temperate (Californian Province &/or Northern Gulf of California)
- Northern Subtropical (Cortez Province + Sinaloan Gap)
- IUCN Red List
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- Least concern
- Listed
- CITES
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- Not listed
- Length Max
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- 72
- Depth Range Min
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- 0
- Depth Range Max
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- 58
