The body of the black seabream is laterally compressed and long oval. The head is large, bluntly pointed anteriorly, the first dorsal fin has hard spines 11-12 and soft bars 12. 3 pairs of incisal canines in each of the two anterior jaws, followed by very well developed molars, 4-5 rows in the lateral part of the maxilla, 3-4 rows in the lateral part of the mandible, 3 pairs of incisal canines in each of the hoe bones, followed by very well developed molars, 4-5 rows in the lateral part of the maxilla, 3-4 rows in the lateral part of the mandible, no teeth in the hoe bones and the mouth cap bones. No scales between the eyes and on the posterior and inferior parts of the anterior gill cover bones. Scales 6-7 on the lateral line, body greenish gray, with black spots at the beginning of the lateral line, often with several black transverse bands on the side of the body.
Classification: Perciformes
Characteristics: The body is laterally compressed with large scales. The fish is silvery gray, with a darker dorsal color and a silvery white belly. The hard spines of the dorsal and anal fins are strong and sharp, characterized by grayish-white membranes in all fins except the pectoral fin. The caudal fin is concave.
Habitat: Lives in waters from 10 to 50 meters, often near oyster shacks, mangroves or wave-absorbing blocks in estuarine areas, and is a widely saline fish. Omnivorous, mainly algae and small benthic animals. They breed in winter and gather at the mouth of rivers to spawn, and in spring the young fish begin to appear in the estuary and are able to move upriver to freshwater areas.
Distribution: tropical waters of the Indo-West Pacific, including the south, north and west of Taiwan.
Sidenote: Economic food fish, important farmed species in southwestern Taiwan.
Black seabream is distributed in the western North Pacific Ocean. China's coastal production, to the Yellow and Bohai Sea production is more. The main fishing ground is off the coast of Shandong, and it is often caught together with other fishes. The fishing season is in spring and fall.
Black seabream prefers to live in the clear water environment of rocky reefs and sandy mud substrate. Black seabream is a wide-temperature, wide-salt fish, with a survival salinity of 4.09‰-35.0‰ and a growth-adapted salinity of 10.0‰-30.0‰. The low-temperature tolerance is stronger than that of the seabream, the survival temperature is 4.3℃-34.0℃, the lethal low temperature is 3.5℃, the feeding water temperature is 6℃, and the suitable temperature for growth is 17.0-25.0℃. Black seabream is a carnivorous fish, adult fish to shellfish and small fish and shrimp as the main food. In the natural sea area, the general age of fish tail fork length of 15cm, 2 age 21cm, 3 age 26cm, 4 age 30cm, 5 age 33cm, 7 age 37cm, 9 age up to 40cm or so, the largest individual length of 45cm, the general age of 4 years before the growth of faster
Black seabream sexual maturity process has a clear phenomenon of sexual reversal. The young fish of 10cm in length are all males; the individuals of 15-25cm in length are typical hermaphrodites in the hermaphrodite stage; the sexual differentiation ends when the body length is 25-30cm, and most of the individuals are transformed into females. Age-wise, most age-2 fish were hermaphroditic, more than 50% of age-3 fish were sexually separated into males, and most age-4 fish were female. The smallest males with reproductive ability are 17cm in length and 145g in weight, while females are 19.4cm in length and 236g in weight.The spawning water temperature of the black seabream is within the range of 14.5-24℃, and there are some differences in the reproduction period due to different water temperatures in various regions, with the coasts of Shandong being in the first half of May to the second half of May, and the coasts of Jiangsu being in the second half of April to the first half of May. Black seabream is a multiple maturation spawning type. Eggs are round, floating, egg diameter is 0.87-1.21mm, oil ball diameter is 0.20-0.23mm.