Centropomus undecimalis
FAMILY
Centropomidae
TAXONOMY
Centropomus undecimalis Bloch, 1792, Jamaica, West Indies.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Robalo blanco; French: Crossie blanc; Spanish:
Robalo blanco.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Total length 55 in (140 cm); maximum weight 53.6 lb (24.3
kg). Body relatively large, elongate, and robust. Pronounced
sloping forehead and snout. Color silvery with faint olive or
greenish hues dorsally, lateral line is black and highly visible.
Caudal fin is large and somewhat forked. There are 8–9 spines
and 10 soft rays in the dorsal fin, and 3 spines and 6 soft rays
in the anal fin.
DISTRIBUTION
Western Atlantic region, in the United States from North Carolina
south to Florida, and west along the coast of the Gulf of
Mexico coast as far west as Texas; south through several islands
in the Caribbean to the coasts of Central and South
America, and further south as far as Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
HABITAT
Shallow coastal marine, brackish, and fresh waters, mainly in
estuaries and lagoons and usually in association with mangroves.
BEHAVIOR
Solitary, usually in association with structure but also swims in
the water column. Migrates for spawning but will also migrate,
for an as yet unexplained reason, into fresh water seasonally.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Prey on smaller benthic and inshore pelagic fishes, as well as
crustaceans such as shrimps and crabs.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Maturity occurs in three to five years, with smaller males maturing
sooner than larger females. Lives to at least seven years.
Fishes migrate seasonally, usually between May to September
(but also August to July in Cuba), to estuaries or mouths of
passes to court and spawn. Eggs are scattered over the bottom,
and larvae are pelagic.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not listed by the IUCN, but vulnerable to overfishing and
HABITAT
destruction.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
A very important commercial, subsistence, and game fish. Also
raised by aquaculture.
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