Common Name
Twospot Bass
Year Described
Poey, 1861
Identification
Dorsal Fin: X, 11-12
Anal Fin: III, 7
Pelvic Fin: I, 5
Pectoral Fin: 17-18
Caudal Fin: 15 branched rays
Lateral Line Scales: 45-51
Gill Rakers: 18-22
Vertebrae: 10 precaudal, 14 caudal; 24 total
Serranus defined by Robins & Starck (1961) with the following set of characters. Supramaxilla absent. Maxilla not covered by lachrymal. Premaxillary with a dorsal expansion. Teeth present on dentary, premaxilla, vomer, and palatine. Preopercle serrated. Opercle with three spines. Dorsal fin continuous. Caudal fin with 17 principal rays. Branchiostegal rays number 7. Snout, jaw area, and brachiostegal area naked. Scales encroach on bases of median fin membranes. Lateral line arched and continuous.
Body elongate, relatively fusiforme, and moderately compressed. Snout shorter than eye. Maxilla exposed. Accessory bone absent. Opercular spines mostly covered by skin (middle most distinct). Tail edge slightly emarginate. Scales large and ctenoid.
Color
Body mauve to bluish above grading to whitish below. Six brownish body bands are variably expressed. Bands become more yellow on the belly. Two distinct blotches on mid-body, one under junction of spiny and soft dorsal fin and the other on the caudal peduncle. Head brownish above and pale below with a faint yellowish eyeband. Dorsal and caudal fin pale with faint brownish bands connected to body bands. Anal and pelvic fins pale. Eye greenish to golden.
Size
Maximum size to 225mm SL.
Habitat
A relatively deep water species, living on or over sand and hard bottoms from 76-308m.
Range
South Carolina to S. Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea.
References
Robins, C.R. & W.A., Starck II. 1961. Materials for a revision of Serranus and related fish genera. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia v. 113 (no. 11): 259-314.
Other Notes
Formerly placed in the genus Centropristis, but phylogenetic evidence places this in the clade of the elongate Serranus.