Sea bass is a common name for a variety of species of marine fish. Many fish species of various families have been called sea bass. For the purpose of this article, sea bass and seabass are considered synonymous and interchangeable.
In Ireland and the United Kingdom, the fish sold and consumed as sea bass is exclusively the European seabass or Branzino, Dicentrarchus labrax.
However, it may also refer to the closely related spotted seabass (Dicentrarchus punctatus). Fish referred to as sea bass include the following:
Butterfly perch (Caesioperca Lepidoptera) is found in the eastern Indian Ocean and the southwest Pacific Ocean, including southern Australia and New Zealand.
Stereolepis gigas - giant sea bass, pacific black sea bass, or giant black sea bass. They are off the coast of California and Baja California, and may grow in excess of 225kg (496lb).
Genus Lateolabrax - (Japanese sea basses. These fish are commonly used in Japanese, Korean, and Chinese cuisines, and are also commonly called suzuki.)
Dissostichus eleginoides - Patagonian toothfish, but commonly referred to by its marketing term, Chilean sea bass.
Dissostichus mawsoni - Antarctic toothfish, also sold commercially as Chilean sea bass.
^These lists do not include other species in the above families that may erroneously be referred to as sea bass due to resemblance or relation to the species mentioned above.