Species: Paralabrax nebulifer, Barred sand-bass
dark oblique bar: eye to operculum
Paralabrax nebulifer (Girard, 1854)
Barred sand-bass
Body elongate, compressed, relatively slender (~ 29% of SL), compressed, back moderately elevated; head pointed, forehead profile gently curved; lower body profile relatively straight; lower jaw projects to join snout profile; mouth extends to under middle of pupil; 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 16-18; preopercle finely serrated; dorsal X, 13-15, 3rd spine largest, distinctly longer than 4th & 2.5x length of 2nd spine, rear margin of soft fin pointed; anal rays III, 7; pectoral rounded, 17-18; pelvics inserted under or slightly behind pectoral base; tail straight to slightly concave; scales small, rough; lateral line scales 66-73; rear of top jawbone without scales; space between eys and snout before nostrils scaled.
Head and body grey to pale greenish brown; upper 2/3 body and tail base with dark blotches and indistinct to dark bars that extend onto dorsal fin, often an oval black blotch under spiny dorsal; often golden-brown spots on cheek and operculum, especially in juveniles; a dark oblique bar between eye and lower corner of operculum; dorsal fin with white base, outer 2/3 of spiny dorsal blackish, edge of soft dorsal yellowish; juvenile without bars on body, with blotches and an indistinct dark stripe along mid-side.
Size: 66 cm, 5 kg, 24 years.
Habitat: sand bottoms close to rocks.
Depth: 0-185 m.
California to the tip of Baja.
High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
-
- Marine
- Marine Only
- Inshore/Offshore
-
- Inshore Only
- Inshore
- Water Column Position
-
- Bottom
- Bottom only
- Habitat
-
- Reef and soft bottom
- Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
- Sand & gravel
- Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
- Rocks
- Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
- FishBase Habitat
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- Reef Associated
- Feeding Group
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- Data
- Carnivore
- Diet
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- Octopus/squid/cuttlefish
- Mobile benthic gastropods/bivalves
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Data
- Bony fishes
- Egg Type
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- No data
- Pelagic
- Pelagic larva
- Global Endemism
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- All species
- TEP non-endemic
- East Pacific endemic
- Regional Endemism
-
- Continent
- Temperate Eastern Pacific, primarily
- All species
- Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic
- Continent only
- California province, primarily
- Residency
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- Vagrant
- Climate Zone
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- Northern Tropical (Mexican Province to Nicaragua + Revillagigedos)
- 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
-
- Not listed
- Depth Range Max
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- 185
- Depth Range Min
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- 0
- Length Max
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- 65
