The Bass (Sea) Family – Serranidae

There are currently THIRTY-FIVE members of the Sea Bass or Serranidae Family,  fourteen  from the Atlantic Ocean and twenty-one from the Pacific Ocean, presented in this website:

ANTHIAS

FROM THE PACIFIC (4):

SERRANO

FROM THE ATLANTIC (6):

FROM THE PACIFIC (3):

OTHER SIMILAR BASSES that are not members of the Serranidae Family:

Giant Sea Bass, Stereolepis gigas – Polyprionidae Family
Largemouth Bass, Microptherus salmoides – Centrarchidae Family
Mottled Soapfish, Rypticus bicolor – very  recently reclassified into the Grouper Family (Epinephelidae)
Rainbow Basslet, Liopropoma fasciatum – very recently reclassified into the Grouper Family (Epinephelidae)
Scaylfin Basslet, Liopropoma longilepis – very recently reclassified into the Grouper Family (Epinephelidae)
Twice-spotted Soapfish, Rypticus nigripinnis – very recently reclassified into the Grouper Family (Epinephelidae)
White Seabass, Atractoscion nobilis– Sciaenidae Family

The fish of the Bass (Sea Bass) or Serranidae Family are known in Mexico’s fishing areas as serranos. The Serranidae Family is very large in size and includes Basslets, Leather Basses, Reef Basses, Sand Perches, Sea Basses, Serranos, Soapfish, Splittail Bases, and Threadfin Basses. There are excess of five hundred global members of the family that have been placed in seven genera. There are sixty-four species in fourteen genera found in Mexican waters, forty in the Atlantic and twenty-four in the Pacific Ocean. There are also a handful of Hamlets assigned to the Hypoplectrus Genus that are residents of the Caribbean that have not yet been fully characterized that will add to these counts.

The Basses all have a “bass-like appearance”, however, due to the considerable diversity in habits amongst its individual members, it is difficult to provide detailed family characteristics. All have a compressed robust body, one dorsal fin, a large mouth with more than one row of teeth, the rear bone of their upper jaw fully exposed on the cheek when their mouth is closed, and a lateral line that extends into the tail base. Their tail is either straight-edged or rounded. Their gill covers are characteristically serrated and have three spines. Their dorsal fin consists of a forward spiny section and a rear soft-rayed section that are normally joined; this is an important clue in species identification. Their bodies are covered with small rough scales.

Most Basses are found in marine environments within the shallower regions of warm and tropical seas. The family has many members that are well known as food and sport fish. They are carnivorous and voracious predators feeding on fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and other invertebrates. They vary in size from a few inches with nominal weights to a maximum of 2 m (6 feet) and 227 kg (500 lbs). Some are active swimmers; others are more sedentary. Most of the members of this family are bottom dwellers that are found in and around rocky reef structures. Some are hermaphroditic with male and female reproductive organs being present in the same animal. Others may mature as one gender and later change to the other. Color also varies, both among and within a species and some Basses are able to change to any of several color patterns. In a few species, the young may be patterned differently from the adults. Other individuals, that inhabit deeper waters may be considerably redder than those of the same species living near shore.