Leather bass (Dermatolepis dermatolepis) is a saltwater species recorded in the United States. It is mainly found over reef, at depths of 21–40 m.
Scientific name: Dermatolepis dermatolepis · Water: Saltwater
Size: up to 100 cm
The leather bass is an epinephelid and a diurnal predator that feeds on small benthic fishes and occasionally on crustaceans, and it is recorded from 21 to 40 m. It often uses browsing herbivorous fishes as a moving blind in order to feed on the cryptic fauna that they disturb, and it will also follow foraging moray eels to catch the fishes frightened from their hiding places. Small juveniles have been seen hiding among the long spines of the dark-coloured sea urchin Centrostephanus coronatus. Maximum length is about 100 cm total length. It is a minor commercial species and a gamefish, with a very high price category. Fishing vulnerability is high at 64 of 100 and resilience very low. IUCN lists it as least concern.
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