Description: Deep body, with a large head and small oblique mouth. Has two pores on the tip of the chin and a shallow groove behind. Dorsal fin deeply notched. Brown dorsally; silvery ventrally; with a dark blotch on the upper corner of the opercle.
Global Distribution: Eastern Atlantic, from the Strait of Gibraltar to Angola, including islands, and the Mediterranean. View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Maximum length 50.0 cm (total length); common length 25.0 cm (TL).
Growth type: Positive allometric (Torres et al. 2012).
von Bertallanfy growth parameters:
Reproduction:
Maturity:
Behavioural ecology: Form large schools which tend to remain in a particular territory. They emit grunt-like sounds, using their swimbladder as a booster.
Population structure & migrations:
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: FishBase: 10-100 m.
Canary Islands (Brito et al. 2002): 3 - 100 m, more abundant down to 50 m depth.
Habitat: Demersal, found over rocky or sandy bottoms.
Feeding habits: Feeds on benthic invertebrates.
Trophic level: FishBase: 3.8
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Minor commercial species.
Conservation status: Global: Least concern.
Europe: Least concern.
Nutritional information & food safety:
REFERENCES
Brito A., Pascual P.J., Falcón J.M., Sancho A., González G. (2002). Peces de las islas Canarias. Catálogo comentado e ilustrado. Francisco Lemos Editor, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, 418 pp.
González J., Hernández C., Marrero P., Rapp E. (2000). Peces de Canarias: GuÃa Submarina (5th edition). Francisco Lemus Editor, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canarias, Spain, 235 pp.
Hureau J.-C., ed. (1984-1985). Fishes of the North-Eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO. Accessed through: Marine Species Identification Portal. World Wide Web electronic publication. http://species-identification.org (2014).
IUCN (2014). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. www.iucnredlist.org
Nieto A., Ralph G.M., Comeros-Raynal M.T., Kemp J., GarcÃa Criado M., Allen D.J., Dulvy N.K., Walls R.H.L., Russell B., Pollard D., GarcÃa S., Craig M., Collette B.B., Pollom R., Biscoito M., Labbish Chao N., Abella A., Afonso P., Ãlvarez H., Carpenter K.E., Clò S., Cook R., Costa M.J., Delgado J., Dureuil M., Ellis J.R., Farrell E.D., Fernandes P., Florin A-B., Fordham S., Fowle, S., Gil de Sola L., Gil Herrera J., Goodpaster A., Harvey M., Heessen H., Herler J., Jung A., Karmovskaya E., Keskin C., Knudsen S.W., Kobyliansky S., KovaÄić M., Lawson J.M., Lorance P., McCully Phillips S., Munroe T., Nedreaas K., Nielsen J., Papaconstantinou C., Polidoro B., Pollock C.M., Rijnsdorp A.D., Sayer C., Scott J., Serena F., Smith-Vaniz W.F., Soldo A., Stump E., Williams J.T. (2015). Europen Red List of Marine Fishes. IUCN and European Union, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 90 pp.
Oliveira M.T., Santos M.N., Coelho R., Monteiro V., Martins A., Lino P.G. (2014). Weight–length and length–length relationships for reef fish species from the Cape Verde Archipelago (tropical northâ€eastern Atlantic). Journal of Applied Ichthyology, in press.
Torres M.A., Ramos F., Sobrino I. (2012). Length–weight relationships of 76 fish species from the Gulf of Cadiz (SW Spain). Fisheries Research, 127: 171-175.
