Common Name
Threespine Bass
Year Described
Mochizuki & Sano, 1984
Identification
Dorsal Fin: VIII-I, 10
Anal Fin: III, 8-9
Pectoral Fin: 16-17
Pelvic Fin: I, 5
Lateral Line Scales: 46-51
Gill Rakers: 17-19 total in first arch (12-14 in lower limb)
Vertebrae: 11 precaudal, 14 caudal; 25 total.
Body quite elongate with body depth 3.7-4.8 times in SL. Jaws with well developed slender canine teeth (3-4 in upper, 5-7 on lower). Vomer with two canines. Palatine teeth villiform. Preopercle weakly serrate. Dorsal fins widely separate. Anterior margin of pelvic fin with serrations. Anterior edge of second dorsal and anal fin spines smooth.
Color
Body pale yellowish with a dark lateral stripe from head to caudal fin. Dark melanophores on dorsal surface of head, and at the fin bases. Two parallel rows of spots follow lateral line.
Size
Adults from 75-116mm SL.
Habitat
Outer shelf waters (continental and insular) from 36-550m.
Range
Scattered records from the Gulf of Mexico to Brazil, including the Caribbean Sea.
References
Heemstra, P.C. 2002. Parazenidae (Pp. 1203-1204), Zeniontidae (Pp. 1205-1206), Zeidae (Pp. 1207-1209), Oreosomatidae (Pp. 1212-1213), Grammicolepidae (Pp. 1214-1216), Moronidae (Pp. 1294-1296), Acropomatidae (Pp. 1299-1303). In: Carpenter, 2002. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic Vol. 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae to Grammatidae). FAO Species Identification Guides for Fisheries Purposes. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5.
Mejía, L.S., A. Acero P., A. Roa and L. Saavedra. 2001. Review of the fishes of the genus Synagrops from the tropical Western Atlantic (Perciformes: Acropomatidae). Caribb. J. Sci. 37(3-4):202-209.
Mochizuki, K. & M. Sano. 1984. A new percichthyid fish Synagrops trispinosus from the Caribbean Sea and its adjacent waters. Jpn. J. Ichthyol. v. 31 (no. 1): 1-4.
Ruiz-Carus, R., R.E. Matheson Jr. and F.E. Vose. 2004. The threespine bass, Synagrops trispinosus (Perciformes; Acropomatidae), an addition to the fish fauna of the Gulf of Mexico. Gulf of Mexico Science 2004(2):151-154.
Schwarzhans, W.W. & A.M. Prokofiev. 2017. Reappraisal of Synagrops Günther, 1887 with rehabilitation and revision of Parascombrops Alcock, 1889 including description of seven new species and two new genera (Perciformes: Acropomatidae). Zootaxa 4260: 1-74.