ANIMALIA / CHORDATA / ACTINOPTERYGII / PERCIFORMES / DINOPERCIDAE / DINOPERCA / PETERSI

Dinoperca petersi (Day, 1875)
indigenous LC
ZODATSA
Morphological description

Cave bass have a dark brown head, body and fins with white specks on the body. These spots fade in large adults. The lower part of the head is pale with a dark moustache shaped marking across the cheek. Small juveniles have a silvery body and black markings, marking on the dorsal make it appear to be two separate fins.

Global distribution

Western Indian Ocean including Pakistan, southern Oman, Kenya, MOZ and eastern seaboard of SA (Smith and Heemstra 1991, Randall 1995).

SA distribution

In southern Africa cave bass are found south to Mossel Bay (Smith and Heemstra 1991, Heemstra and Heemstra 2004).

Movement

Cave bass are highly resident species but a very small proportion (<5%) appears to be more nomadic with movements of up to 90km (Mann 2012).

Trophic strategy

Adult cave bass feed on crustaceans such as shrimps, mantis shrimps, crabs as well as small fish (van der Elst 1988, Heemstra and Heemstra 2004) but the diet of juveniles in not known.

Reproduction

The specific reproductive style of cave bass is unknown. They have been reported to spawn in winter in KZN (van der Elst 1988) but most eggs are found in southern KZN during December to April (Connell 2012). Spawning take place off KZN in shelf waters at 20-30m depth (van der Elst 1988, Connell 2012). Average age at maturity is not known and the average length at maturity is estimated to be ~30cm TL (van der Elst 1988).

Biome

Inshore, Offshore (>30m)

Occurrence records map

This map contains point-based occurrences at different locations

iNaturalist: Data partners records: DNA:

Residence status

Occurrence in African countries and South African provinces. Residence status indicates if a taxon is indigenous, endemic, or alien in a specific region. This data is based on specimen records and literature.

FSA

SA

BOT

NAM

ESW

LES

WC

EC

NC

FS

GA

KZN

LP

MP

NW

Absent

Indigenous

Endemic

Naturalised

Invasive

Adrian
ZODATSA

Names and Sources

Common Name Language
Spelonkbaars Af
Lampfish En
Cavebass En
Cave Bass
Lantern Fish
ZODATSA

Classification

KINGDOM Animalia

PHYLUM Chordata

CLASS Actinopterygii

ORDER Perciformes

FAMILY Dinopercidae

GENUS Dinoperca

SPECIES petersi

No results found for Dinoperca petersi (Day, 1875)

Uses

Cave bass form a minor part of catches in all fisheries where they occur (Dunlop 2011), except for subsistence fishing for which the contribution is not known. Frequently taken by spearfishers in KZN (Mann et al. 1997a).

6 results for Dinoperca petersi (Day, 1875)

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Observation records

Date: 10/6/2015 12:00:00 AM

KwaZulu-Natal

Data Resource: iNaturalist View record

Date: 6/14/2006 12:00:00 AM

KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Data Resource: iNaturalist View record

Date: 11/29/2022 12:00:00 AM

KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Data Resource: iNaturalist View record

Date: 11/29/2007 11:22:00 AM

KwaZulu-Natal

Data Resource: iNaturalist View record

Date: 7/13/2023 8:56:48 AM

KwaZulu-Natal

Data Resource: iNaturalist View record

Date: 4/2/2008 8:32:00 AM

KwaZulu-Natal

Data Resource: iNaturalist View record

Animal occurrence records per dataset

Animal occurrence records per year

Occurrence records map

This map contains point-based occurrences at different locations

iNaturalist: Data partners records: DNA:
ZODATSA

1995

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Underwater visual census of fishes in the St Lucia marine reserve, South Africa

Beckley, LE, Garratt, PA, Chater, SA, Van der Elst, RP. 1995. Underwater visual census of fishes in the St Lucia marine reserve, South Africa Vol. 43 pp.15–24.

2012

UNPUBLISHED

Marine fish eggs and larvae off the east coast of South Africa

Connell, A.D.. 2012. Marine fish eggs and larvae off the east coast of South Africa. World Wide Web electronic publication.

2011

JOURNAL ARTICLE

An assessment of the shore-based and offshore boat-based linefisheries of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Dunlop, STUART. 2011. An assessment of the shore-based and offshore boat-based linefisheries of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

2004

BOOK

Coastal fishes of Southern Africa

Heemstra, P, Heemstra, E. 2004. Coastal fishes of Southern Africa. Grahamstown. NISC pp.488.

2012

JOURNAL ARTICLE

St Lucia Marine Reserve surf-zone fish monitoring and tagging project: a 10-year analysis

Mann, BQ. 2012. St Lucia Marine Reserve surf-zone fish monitoring and tagging project: a 10-year analysis Vol. 300 pp.1–17.

2013

BOOK

Southern African Marine Linefish Species Profiles

Mann, Bruce. 2013. Southern African Marine Linefish Species Profiles. South African Association for Marine Biological Research.

1997

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Evaluation of linefishery participation and management along the KwaZulu-Natal coast

Mann, BQ, Beckley, LE, Van der Elst, RP. 1997. Evaluation of linefishery participation and management along the KwaZulu-Natal coast Vol. 134 pp.1–17.

2006

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Towards the declaration of a large marine protected area: a subtidal ichthyofaunal survey of the Pondoland coast in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

Mann, BQ, Fennessy, ST, Celliers, L, Bailey, S, Wood, AD. 2006. Towards the declaration of a large marine protected area: a subtidal ichthyofaunal survey of the Pondoland coast in the Eastern Cape, South Africa Vol. 28 pp.535–551.

1995

BOOK

Coastal fishes of Oman

Randall, John. 1995. Coastal fishes of Oman. University of Hawaii Press.

2003

BOOK

Smith's Sea Fishes

Smith, JLB, Heemstra, P. 2003. Smith's Sea Fishes. Cape Town. Struik Publishers pp.1047.

1991

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Marine linefish: priority species and research objectives in southern Africa

, , Adkin, F, Van der Elst, RP. 1991. Marine linefish: priority species and research objectives in southern Africa.

1993

BOOK

A guide to the common sea fishes of southern Africa

Van der Elst, Rudy. 1993. A guide to the common sea fishes of southern Africa. Struik.

Status

Status and criteria

LC

Assessor(s)

Sean Fennessy

Reviewer(s)

Animalia Coordinator