Chalk Bass Serranus tortugarum

The Chalk Bass, despite its adult length of some 8 cm (3 inches), is related to the large Bass and Grouper fish as well as to the small, colourful Fairy Basslets. It is the same genus as the Combers.

It is native to reefs of the western Atlantic from Florida via the Caribbean to northern South America. It can vary the intensity of its colour to suit mood or camouflage. It is a social fish and a hermaphrodite. When pairing up to spawn, one fish will take the male role and one the female. It eats zooplankton and small crustaceans. It is critically endangered.