harlequin bass
Serranus tigrinus (Bloch, 1790)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

The Harlequin Bass (Serranus tigrinus) is an unusual striking yellow and black mottled color on the ventral side, with black and white mottling on the dorsal half. The Harlequin Bass can be found in the Western Atlantic,Bermuda and southern Florida, USA to northern South America, throughout the Caribbean, including Antilles.
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Open encyclopedia reference
Serranus tigrinus, the harlequin bass, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a sea bass from the subfamily Serraninae, which is a part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the groupers and the anthias. It can be found in the western Atlantic Ocean, and also in aquarium trades.
Wikipedia contributors, Serranus tigrinus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:10:28.341317+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Serranus tigrinus (Bloch, 1790)
- Name authority
- (Bloch, 1790)
- Common name
- harlequin bass
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Serranidae
- Genus
- Serranus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderPerciformes
- suborderPercoidei
- familySerranidae Swainson, 1839
- genusSerranus Cuvier, 1816
- speciesSerranus tigrinus (Bloch, 1790)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Serranus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Serranus accraensis (Norman, 1931) | SerranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| blacktail comberSerranus atricauda Günther, 1874 | SerranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| blackear bassSerranus atrobranchus (Cuvier, 1829) | SerranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Serranus hepatus (Linnaeus, 1758) | SerranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Serranus maytagi Robins & Starck, 1961 | SerranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Serranus novemcinctus Kner, 1864 | SerranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Serranus pulcher Wirtz & Iwamoto, 2016 | SerranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Serranus sanctaehelenae Boulenger, 1895 | SerranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| belted sandfishSerranus subligarius (Cope, 1870) | SerranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Serranus tico Allen & Robertson, 1998 | SerranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| chalk bassSerranus tortugarum Longley, 1935 | SerranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| lantern bassSerranus baldwini (Evermann & Marsh, 1899) | SerranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Holocentrus tigrinus Bloch, 1790 Bloch, 1790 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=273909 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4WX8H. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.