Common names: sea-bass (English), cherlo (Espanol), choromelo (Espanol)
Acanthistius pictus (Tschudi, 1846)
Peruvian sea-bass
Oblong compressed; forehead profile nearly straight; mouth large; lips very thick in large fish; jaws with inner bands of small, slender teeth, and outer row of small canines; teeth at front and center of roof of mouth; a small supramaxilla bone above main bone (maxilla) of top jaw; preopercle serrated, with 2-3 large forward pointing spines on its lower edge; operculum with 3 strong spines; 10-12 lower rakers, 2-3 upper; dorsal fin continuous, XI, 3rd to 5th spines longest, 17 soft rays, rear edge rounded; anal fin III, 2nd spine largest, 8 rays, with rounded margin; tail with straight edge and rounded corners, with 15 branched rays; 19 pectoral rays, most branched; pelvics inserted behind base of pectoral, reaching nearly to anal origin in small fish; scales very rough, small, about 145-150 in lateral series; lateral line complete, tubes with branches; lateral line scales distinct, about equal sized to neighboring scales.
Mottled brown; dorsal, tail, anal and pelvic fins dark brown; pectorals pinkish; a dark stripe from snout through eye; a dark oblique bar from eye to lower corner of operculum, another similar bar from corner of mouth to lower edge of operculum; a dark oblique blotch with a white rear margin on upper edge of operculum between uppermost two spines.
Apparently reaches ~ 80 cm.
Depth: 10-50 m.
Found on shallow rocky reefs.
Southern Ecuador to central Chile.
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