Black Musselcracker
Cymatoceps nasutus
- Usual depth6–14 m
- Water temperature17–25 °C
- Best monthsJune, July, and August
- How commonCommon
Photo credit: no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
About this species
The black musselcracker is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sparidae, which includes the seabreams and porgies. This species is the only species in the monospecific genus Cymatoceps. It is endemic to South Africa.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Black musselcracker”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
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Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 1,227 records
- February: 888 records
- March: 1,031 records
- April: 1,043 records
- May: 1,247 records
- June: 1,319 records
- July: 1,380 records
- August: 1,382 records
- September: 1,051 records
- October: 915 records
- November: 994 records
- December: 1,107 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 6–14 m · Deepest record: 14 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 17–25 °C
Photos
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Black Musselcracker, Musselcracker, Poenskop Seabream
Names in 3 more languages
- Spanish
- Sargo Narigón
- French
- Spare Nasique
- Simplified Chinese
- 眶鱗鯛
Other scientific names: Chrysophrys nasutus, Pagrus nigripinnis
Similar species
Australian SeabreamAcanthopagrus australis
Santer seabreamCheimerius nufar
Englishman seabreamChrysoblephus anglicus
DageraadChrysoblephus cristiceps
Miss LucyChrysoblephus gibbiceps
Roman seabreamChrysoblephus laticeps
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 13,546 open-data records from 1947 to 2015.
- Species data updated November 2, 2026.
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