There was no information found on communication and perception on Dermatolepis dermatolepis.
Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical
The only known predators of the leather bass are hunting macrofauna.
Adult leather bass have a distinctive color pattern of white markings on the head, body and fins along with small dark spots on a gray to olive brown background. On some fish, there are occasionally several dark bars running from top to bottom on the fish. Juvenile leather bass have black and white bands along their bodies, which help them integrate with the spines of the urchins they live in. Adults are about a meter long and can weigh up to 12.5 kg. Females are larger than males.
Range mass: 12.5 (high) kg.
Average length: 100 cm.
Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: female larger
Leather bass are expected to live in the wild for approximately 24 years, maximum.
Typical lifespan
Status: wild: 24 (high) years.
Leather bass live in reef areas with a depth between 4 to 40 m in the subtropics (35° N to 7°S). Leather bass inhabit rocky reefs and areas near the base of rocky faces. Juveniles are vulnerable to larger predators and will often times seek shelter in the spines of sea urchins.
Range depth: 4 to 40 m.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; saltwater or marine
Aquatic Biomes: reef ; coastal
Dermatoplepis dermatolepis has a wide range that covers mostl of the Eastern Central Pacific and the Southeast Pacific. The most northern area that this fish extends into is the Gulf of California, USA, where it is very rare. The most southern country where the species is found is Ecuador. This fish is most abundant in the Revillagigedo islands. It is also found offshore of the following countries/islands: Bahia Magdalena, Galapagos islands, Cocos island, Clipperton island, Columbia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and USA.
Biogeographic Regions: neotropical (Native ); pacific ocean (Native )
Leather bass can be found hovering above rocky reefs during the day searching for food. They feed on small benthic fishes that are disturbed when foraging grazers come to feed in an area. Occasionally, they feed on crustaceans, crabs, and shrimp nekton.
Animal Foods: fish; aquatic crustaceans
Primary Diet: carnivore (Piscivore , Eats non-insect arthropods)
When leather bass are juveniles, they are able to hide in a sea urchin. This allows the fish to hide from predators until they are large enough to protect themselves.
Mutualist Species:
Humans benefit from leather bass in that these fish provide minor commercial fisheries and gamefish for sportsman.
Positive Impacts: food
There are no known adverse affects of Dermatolepis dermatolepis on humans.
Leather bass can change sex; some females change into males and become larger than individuals born as males.
The leather bass is in no immediate danger of being endangered. Therefore, it has no special status.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
Dermatolepis dermatolepis usually breed in specific locations, which makes them vulnerable to over-fishing if the breeding areas are found.
Leather bass assemble at dusk to mate. They locate a spot high on the reef, and then gather by the hundreds to spawn. The males and females pair off and hurry towards the surface, releasing a cloud of eggs and sperm.
Mating System: polygynandrous (promiscuous)
Leather bass do not guard their spawn. They use external fertilization and breed in open water and scatter their eggs. Juveniles hide in the spines of sea urchins.
Key Reproductive Features: sexual ; fertilization (External ); broadcast (group) spawning; oviparous
The parents of juvenile leather bass have no parental investment. The only thing that the parents do is to mate and release a cloud of eggs and sperm.
Parental Investment: no parental involvement
Dermatolepis dermatolepis, the leather bass is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It is a predatory reef fish which is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Dermatolepis dermatolepis has a body which is at least twice as deep as its standard length[3] which is at its deepest at the origin of the dorsal fin and laterally compressed.[4] The dorsal profile of head is steep and the eye has a diameter which is less than the length of the snout. The caudal fin is rounded and the pectoral fins are short. The dorsal fin contains 11 spines and 18-20 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 9 soft rays.[2] The adults have a greyish-brown body with alternating dark grey to blackish and white to pale grey bars mottled by many white to pale blotches. The margins of the fins have thin bands of yellow. The juveniles are black with narrow white stripes on the head and the body which extend onto the dorsal and anal fins with a white caudal fin which has black spots.[4] The maximum recorded total length is 100 centimetres (39 in) and they have been weighted up to 125 kilograms (276 lb).[2]
Dermatolepis dermatolepis occurs in the eastern Pacific Ocean along the western coast of North and South America from southern California to Peru. They are also found on the Galapagos Islands, the Revillagigedo Islands, Cocos Island and Clipperton Island.[2]
Dermatolepis dermatolepis is a species of coral and rocky reefs down to at least 50 metres (160 ft) and is likely to be found at much greater depths. The small juveniles may use the long spines of the sea urchins Centrostephanus and Diadema for shelter.[1] It is a diurnal predator which preys on small benthic fishes and sometimes on crustaceans. It will associate with browsing herbivorous fishes, hiding amongst them and feeding on the hidden animals disturbed by these fish as they browse. They have also been recorded following moray eels as they forage, preying on fishes fleeing from the eel.[2] This species forms schools and synchronized spawning aggregations made up of around 30 to 70 fishes. Spawning aggregations have been observed from late November until February over a seamount off Cocos Island. They have also been observed spawning at Manuelita Island close to Cocos Island in late July. In the Revillagigedo Islands of Mexico spawning aggregations of 30-54 individuals have been recorded in February over a shallow seamount.[1]
Dermatolepis dermatolepis was originally described as Dermatolepis punctatus by the American ichthyologist Theodore Nicholas Gill (1837-1914) as the type species of the monotypic subgenus Dermatolepis of the genus Epinephelus with the type locality given as Cape San Lucas, Baja California in Mexico.[5] This name was preoccupied by Holocentrus punctatus, a possible synonym of Epinephelus guttatus.[6]
Dermatolepis dermatolepis, the leather bass is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It is a predatory reef fish which is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
