Species: Cheilotrema saturnum, Black croaker
mouth below snout
Cheilotrema saturnum (Girard, 1858)
Black croaker
Body high, oblong, moderately compressed; forehead profile oblique, snout pointed; mouth a little below, small, ~ horizontal; chin with 5 pores, no barbels; 14-20 short, spiny gill rakers; preopercle edge finely serrated; anal short, II spines, 2nd spine heavy, as long as 1st ray, 6-7 rays; dorsal fin X, I, 25-28, with deep notch between spiny and soft parts; pectoral short, not reaching tip of pelvic, 17-18 rays; tail edge straight; scales rough except smooth around eye; inner 1/3 of soft dorsal and inner 3/4 of anal scaly; 56-60 lateral line scales.
Upper body dark grey to purplish to black, with coppery patches; belly silvery with dark dots; an indistinct pale bar at mid-body; an elongate black blotch on upper rear border of opercle; fins dark grey; juveniles with 3-4 dark stripes along upper body.
Size: 45 cm.
Habitat: caves and crevices near sandy bottoms, open bays and coasts.
Depth: 3-100 m.
California to southern Baja; also in the northern Gulf of California.
High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
-
- Marine Only
- Marine
- Inshore/Offshore
-
- Inshore
- Inshore Only
- Water Column Position
-
- Bottom + water column
- Near Bottom
- Bottom
- Habitat
-
- Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
- Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
- Rocks
- Reef only
- Water column
- FishBase Habitat
-
- Demersal
- Feeding Group
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- Carnivore
- Data
- Diet
-
- Data
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Egg Type
-
- Pelagic larva
- Pelagic
- No data
- Global Endemism
-
- East Pacific endemic
- TEP non-endemic
- All species
- Regional Endemism
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- Continent only
- Temperate Eastern Pacific, primarily
- All species
- Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic
- California province, primarily
- Continent
- Residency
-
- Resident
- Climate Zone
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- Northern Subtropical (Cortez Province + Sinaloan Gap)
- North Temperate (Californian Province &/or Northern Gulf of California)
- IUCN Red List
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- Listed
- Data deficient
- CITES
-
- Not listed
- Depth Range Max
-
- 100
- Depth Range Min
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- 3
- Length Max
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- 45
