Sea Basses & Porgies

Black Sea Bass

Although they are both called basses, Stripers and Black Sea Bass are not closely related. Striped Bass are more closely related to ocean perches, while Black Sea Bass are related to tropical basslets and groupers. The Striped Bass is the largest member of the sea bass family, often called "temperate" or "true" bass to distinguish it from species such as largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass which are actually members of the sunfish family Centrarchidae. Porgies are much more highly compressed ( side-to-side ) than basses, and are not closely related.

Many, if not all, Sea Basses share the odd trait of changing sex from male to female ( protandry ) or female to male ( protogyny ), depending on the species. Oddly, Striped Bass undergo a sexual transformation that is the opposite of the Black Sea Bass. The reason lies in their different lifestyles. Black Sea Bass are bottom-dwellers, and the males are territorial. Bigger fish can claim better territories, so it is an advantage for a big individual to become a male. Stripers on the other hand are not territorial. In their case, bigger fish can produce more eggs, so it is advantageous for big Stripers to be females.

All these fishes all have sharp hard spines in the dorsal and anal fins, as a defense against predators. The spines make the fish much more difficult to swallow, or handle, as many a fisherman could tell you.


Black Sea Bass

Centropristis striata

Profile by Thomas Baum,
Senior Fisheries Biologist

Range:
Atlantic coastal waters of the United States, from northern Florida to Cape Cod, occasionally to Maine.


Scup (Porgy)

Stentotomus chrysops

Profile by Stacey Reap

Range:
Scup have been found along the Atlantic coast from the Bay of Fundy and Sable Island Bank, Canada, to as far south as Florida; however, the greatest concentrations can be found from Massachusetts to North Carolina. Depending upon the season, they can be found from coastal waters and estuaries out to depths of approximately 650 ft. along the outer continental shelf. A separate population of scup referred to as the "southern porgy" or S. aculeatus, is referenced in several South Atlantic Bight studies; however, there is no official differentiation made between the two populations by the American Fisheries Society.


Striped Bass

Morone saxatilis

Profile by Thomas Baum,
Senior Fisheries Biologist

Common Name:
Striped Bass, also called Rockfish, Rock, Striper, and Linesider


Spider Crab

Spider Crabs Libinia emarginata are scavengers. Although they are fearsome-looking, they are actually slow-moving, and their usual claws-out threat display is mostly bluff. Spider Crabs have relatively small round bodies (to 4"), long legs, and rather weak claws. They are found subtidally to at least 160 ft, on any type of bottom, and are very common in rivers and inlets. They often cover themselves with detritus for camouflage, and can also burrow in soft sediments.

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