Age, Growth and Reproductive Biology of the Black Sea Bass, Centropristis striata, from the southeastern United States

John C. McGovern, Mark R. Collins, H. Scott Meister and Oleg Pashuk
SCDNR, P.O. Box 12559, Charleston, SC 29422

Black sea bass, Centropristis striata, is a protogynous serranid that occurs along the Atlantic coast from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to Cape Canaveral, Florida. In the Gulf of Mexico, black sea bass are reported to be a separate subspecies. During 1978-1997, 85,075 black sea bass were sampled by the Marine Resources Monitoring Assessment and Prediction Program (MARMAP) at the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR). Black sea bass were caught from 27o to 34o and at depths ranging from 9 to 55 m. A total of 13,889 individuals were aged, and sex and maturity was determined for 24,143 individuals. Ten age groups were identified, however, 93% of the fish aged were between one to five years old. At 16-35 m, there was a significant difference in the size at age by latitude with a significantly smaller size at age occurring at higher latitudes. Males constituted 33.6%, females 56.8% and transitionals 9.6% of the black sea bass that were collected during 1978-1997. Females dominated size intervals < 200 mm SL and ages < 4. Female black sea bass became sexually mature at significantly smaller sizes and younger ages during 1985-1991 and 1992-1997 than during 1978-1982. Peak spawning of females was during March through May.