Centropomus ensiferus, Swordspine snook : fisheries, gamefish

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Centropomus ensiferus Poey, 1860

Swordspine snook
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Centropomus ensiferus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Centropomus ensiferus (Swordspine snook)
Centropomus ensiferus
Picture by Perusquía, E.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Carangaria/misc (Various families in series Carangaria) > Centropomidae (Snooks)
Etymology: Centropomus: Greek, kentron = sting + Greek, poma, -atos = cover, operculum (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Poey.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; freshwater; brackish; benthopelagic; amphidromous (Ref. 51243); depth range ? - 22 m (Ref. 26912). Subtropical; 25°N - 23°S, 98°W - 34°W

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Atlantic: southern Florida (USA), Greater and Lesser Antilles, and continental Caribbean coasts of Central and South America southward extending to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 36.2 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); common length : 25.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5217); max. published weight: 1.0 kg (Ref. 5217)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 8 - 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10; Anal spines: 1 - 3; Anal soft rays: 6. 2nd spine of anal fin greatly enlarged; body yellowish brown dorsally, silver laterally and ventrally; lateral line dusky; pectoral and pelvic fins yellow, other fins dusky (Ref. 13608).
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits coastal waters, estuaries and lagoons, penetrating into freshwater; usually prefers very low brackish water or freshwater. Found over soft bottoms (Ref. 5217). Feeds on small fishes (Engraulidae, Clupeidae, etc.) and crustaceans (mainly shrimps) (Ref. 35237).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Juveniles in mangrove areas and irrigation canals.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Fraser, T.H., 1978. Centropomidae. In W. Fischer (ed.) FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. West Atlantic (Fishing Area 31). FAO, Rome. Vol. 1-2. pag.var. (Ref. 3713)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 23 January 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
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Larvae
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Distribution
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BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
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Physiology
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Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
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Visual pigments
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Genetics
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Stamps, coins, misc.
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Taxonomy
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References
References

Tools

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Special reports

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 26.8 - 28.3, mean 27.5 °C (based on 517 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5002   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00724 (0.00431 - 0.01217), b=3.09 (2.94 - 3.24), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.2   ±0.62 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tm=3-4; Fec=80,000).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low to moderate vulnerability (26 of 100). 🛈
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 58.7 [33.6, 120.4] mg/100g; Iron = 0.742 [0.452, 1.292] mg/100g; Protein = 19.3 [17.0, 21.5] %; Omega3 = 0.39 [0.18, 0.89] g/100g; Selenium = 17.8 [9.1, 32.5] μg/100g; VitaminA = 26.9 [9.7, 79.2] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.949 [0.660, 1.368] mg/100g (wet weight);