South Africa country information

Common names: Black musselcracker, Musselcracker, Poenskop
Occurrence: native
Salinity: brackish
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: commercial | Ref: van der Elst, R.P. and F. Adkin (eds.), 1991
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: gamefish: yes;
Comments: Ranges from Natal to the Cape (Ref. 3198). Stock depressed and vulnerable; component of the commercial catch, sought by recreational fishers (Ref. 4332). Also Ref. 12484.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/sf.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Smith, J.L.B. and M.M. Smith, 1986
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Spare nasique, Sargo narigón, أُسبور نَزيك, ... more

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Eupercaria/misc (Various families in series Eupercaria) > Sparidae (Porgies)
Etymology: Cymatoceps: Greek, kyma, -atos = wave, swelling, bump (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Castelnau.

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

Marine; brackish; demersal; depth range 1 - 80 m (Ref. 3507). Subtropical; 22°S - 35°S

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

Western Indian Ocean: Natal to the Cape in South Africa.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ?, range 53 - ? cm
Max length : 150 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3507); max. published weight: 34.4 kg (Ref. 40637)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 12; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8. Adults with a large fleshy 'nose'.

Inhabits shallow, rocky coastal areas to 80 m depth. Rarely enters estuaries. Feeds on crabs, crayfish, sea urchins and other hard-shelled animals (Ref. 3670). Takes almost any bait (Ref. 3198). Important food fish. Head considered a delicacy in some areas (Ref. 3198). It is parasitised by the monogenean Anoplodiscus cirrusspiralis on the fins and body surface (Ref. 124057).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Bauchot, M.-L. and M.M. Smith, 1984. Sparidae. In W. Fischer and G. Bianchi (eds.) FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Western Indian Ocean (Fishing Area 51). volume 4. [var. pag.] FAO, Rome. (Ref. 3507)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Vulnerable (VU) (A2bd); Date assessed: 15 November 2009

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes

FAO(Fisheries: production; publication : search) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators

Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges

Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances

Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics

Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos

Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths

Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)

Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities

Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.

Outreach
Collaborators

Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures

References
References

Tools

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 16.7 - 26, mean 23.9 (based on 36 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 1.0000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01549 (0.00846 - 0.02836), b=3.06 (2.91 - 3.21), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.6 ±0.40 se; based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (K=0.05; tmax=45).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): High to very high vulnerability (74 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Very high.

Cymatoceps nasutus (Castelnau, 1861)