The black musselcracker (''Cymatoceps nasutus'') is a South African species of marine fish in the family

Sparidae The Sparidae are a family of fish in the order Perciformes, commonly called sea breams and porgies. The sheepshead, scup, and red seabream are species in this family. Most sparids are deep-bodied compressed fish with a small mouth separated by a ...

. It is the only species of its

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Cymatoceps''. It reaches in length and almost in weight. It is found in coastal rocky areas to depths of , and feeds on hard-shelled invertebrates such as

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

s and

sea urchin Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) of ...

s. The black musselcracker is a popular sport fish in South Africa. Because it is eagerly sought after, this species experiences a lot of over harvesting, which diminishes its chances of a stable population. The reason that black musselcracker is vulnerable to over harvesting is mainly because they have a slow growth rate, which means that they are most likely being harvested before they are old enough to reproduce. As a result of over harvesting the black musselcracker, there are now fishing regulations to protect this species. The primary rule is that each fisherman is allowed only one fish, minimum length of 50 centimeters, per day. Because of these new regulations, in some regions of South Africa, black musselcracker populations are on the rise.

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* * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1409436 Sparidae Taxa named by François-Louis Laporte, comte de Castelnau Fish described in 1861 Monotypic ray-finned fish genera