12 White seabass

Family:	Sciaenidae (Croakers)

Distinguishing characteristics The white seabass is one of eight kinds of croakers found in the waters off our coast - not including two kinds of croakers that were successfully intro­duced into Salton Sea. They can be readily distinguished from all the other croakers by their great size when they are adults, by their four or five dark, vertical bars on their sides when they are young, and a raised ridge on the midline of the belly at all sizes. The dark bars, which show so well on fish up to 18 inches long, are also present on adults, but because they fade after the fish is hauled from the water they are usually noted only by skin divers.

Distribution During at least one recent year, large seabass were caught along the Pacific Coast as far north as Alaska. Normally, however, their seasonal distribution ranges from about San Francisco south to, and into, the Gulf of California. Young are locally abundant close inshore in a number of Southern Ca­lifornia localities including Santa Monica Bay, Belmont Shore, Dana Point, Oceanside and Coronado Strand. Adults frequently occur in loose schools and are most common over sandy bottoms and around the offshore kelp beds on the mainland coast, and offshore around San Clemente and Santa Gatalina Islands.

Life history notes. An 83-pound 12 ounce fish is the cur­rently recognized weight record for white seabass. The age of a fish such as this is not known, but 40-pound individuals, which are taken with certain frequency, are around 20 years old. A certain percentage of the females are mature and will spawn when three years of age. Nothing is known at present regarding the number of eggs spawned by fish of various sizes, or the exact period during which spawning takes place.

Very young are often captured in relatively quiet water near the surf zone in the late spring and throughout the summer months, so spawning is presumed to take place during this period. The near shore areas in Santa Monica Bay, off Belmont Shore, just South of Dana Point and a few similar localities appear to be important nursery grounds for young white seabass. Many of these areas are rather highly polluted and the white seabass there appear to be affected by some of the toxic materials in the water. These effects are manifest in the white seabass by hemorrhages of the eyes which in some cases cause the loss of the orbit. Fish caught in this areas often have parasitic marine “pillbugs” on their fins and other places of their bodies.

Examination of a number of stomachs indicates fish, especially anchovies and sardines, and squid make up the bulk of the diet. At times large fish which have eaten only Pacific mackerel are found.

Fossil earbones of white seabass have been found in Pleistocene deposits that were laid down at Playa del Rey some 20,000 years ago.

13 White croaker Genyonemus lineatus

Distinguishing characteristics. The white croaker is one of the five kinds of California croakers (family Sciaenidae) that have their mouth on the underside. They can be distinguished from the corbina and yellowfin croaker by the absence of a fleshy barbel at the tip of the low jaw. The 12 to 15 first dorsal spines serve to distinguish it from all the other croakers with subterminal mouths, since none of these has more than 11 spines in this fin.

Distribution. White croakers have been taken all the way from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, to Magdalena Bay, but are not abundant north of San Francisco. They usually swim in loose schools at or near the bottom in sandy areas. Sometimes they are abundant in the surf zone and in shallow bays and lagoons. Most of the time they are to be found in offshore areas at depth of 10 to 100 or more feet. On rare occasions they are abundant at depth as great as 300 feet.

Life history notes. Although there is an unverified account of a four-pounder, white croakers in excess of two pounds are extremely rare. The largest individual caught during trawling operations in Southern California was 14.5 inches in total length and weighed 1,49 pounds.

While the age for white croaker have not been determined reliably it is thought that some may live as long as 15 or more years. Some spawn for the first time when they are between two and three years old. At this age they are only five to six inches long and usually weigh less than one-tenth of a pound each. Spawning appears to take place during most of the year among some fish but most of the fish mature and spawn in the early spring months. Most females are believed to spawn more than once each season.

White croakers eat a variety of fish, squid, shrimp, octopi, worms, small crabs, clams and other items, either living or dead, that come within their reach. In turn they are preyed upon by sea lions, Pacific bottlenose dolphins, halibut, black sea bass and bluefin tuna, at least.

Fossil earbones of white croakers have been found in many Pleistocene, Pliocene, and Miocene deposits of Southern California. More than 5,500 white croaker otoliths were sifted from an Indian midden at Ventura, California, in 1965.