A small red and white sea bass recorded only at Socorro Island, on sand and rubble between the rock.
To about 8 cm. Red over the upper head and body and bright white immediately below, with a red iris, four or five pearl-white patches on the back under the dorsal fin and six or seven reddish bar-like extensions on the lower sides. The dorsal fin has a pink base with four red-brown spots along its lower half and white membranes between the spines, and there are two small red-brown spots on top of the tail base. The other serrano likely to be met in the eastern Pacific is the barred serrano, and the upper body settles it: grey to brown there with short H-shaped dark bars, red here with pearl-white patches.
Sand and rubble between the rock, five to twenty metres, though FishBase gives zero to eight and the two do not agree. It is known from Socorro Island only, which makes it the most narrowly recorded fish on this site. Described in 1992. Listed as Vulnerable. Serranus are simultaneous hermaphrodites as a genus, but that has not been reported for this species in particular.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.
