Description: An oblong, moderately compressed, medium-sized fish. Jaw teeth fused to form beak-like plates, with teeth visible on the margin. The lower jaw is slightly longer than the upper one. It has large, heavy scales arranged in regular rows on the head and body. The lateral line is discontinuous. They present a marked sexual dichromatism: males are grey, with a dark spot on each side, behind the head; females are bright red with grey and yellow areas. Colouration patterns are intensified during breeding season.
Global Distribution: Eastern Atlantic: from Portugal to Senegal, including Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands. In the Mediterranean Sea. View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Maximum length 50.0 cm (total length); common length 30.0 cm (standard length).
Reproduction: Breeding occurs from July to September, with juveniles recruiting in late summer in Portugal; spawns from June to October in the Canary Islands. Fecundity is high, and spawns several times in a year.
Maturity: 15.5 cm
Behavioural ecology: Gregarious, form aggregations composed of individuals of different sex and size, usually with more females. Some large males are solitary.
Population structure & migrations:
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: FishBase: 20 - 50 m.
Habitat: Reef-associated. In shallow water along rocky shores.
Feeding habits: Feeds on algae and small invertebrates.
Trophic level: FishBase: 2.9
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Commercial species.
Conservation status: Global: Least concern.
Europe: Least concern.
Nutritional information & food safety:
REFERENCES
Carpenter K.E., ed. (2002). The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and marine mammals. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. FAO, Rome, pp. 1375-2127.
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.
IUCN (2014). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. www.iucnredlist.org
Morato T., Afonso P., Lourinho P., Barreiros J.P., Santos R.S., Nash R.D.M. (2001). Length–weight relationships for 21 coastal fish species of the Azores, north-eastern Atlantic. Fisheries Research, 50(3): 297-302.
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. (2015). Weight–length and length–length relationships for reef fish species from the Cape Verde Archipelago (tropical northâ€eastern Atlantic). Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 31(1), 236-241.
