Description: A small to medium-sized seabream. Body oval and rather deep. Mouth slightly protrusible, with teeth differentiated into incisors and molars. Snout scaleless; cheeks scaly. A single, continuous dorsal fin; caudal fin forked. Silvery grey, with 9 transverse stripes, alternately very dark and paler, starting from the dorsal part and covering about two-thirds of the body. Only the 5 darker stripes are visible in juveniles. It also has a saddle-like dark blotch on the caudal peduncle. The pectoral fin axils are black; the fins are grey, and the caudal fin has a black margin.
Global Distribution: Eastern Atlantic from the Bay of Biscay to Cape Verde. View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Maximum length 45.0 cm (total length); common length 25.0 cm (TL).
Behavioural ecology: Gregarious, can form large aggregations. Sometimes they will hide in caves or crevices when threatened, often with several individuals sharing a small space.
Population structure & migrations:
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: FishBase: ? - 150 m
Habitat: Inhabits rocky bottoms down to depths of about 150 m, but especially abundant in the surf zone; young occur in Zostera seagrass beds.
Feeding habits: Prefers to feed on small crustaceans and molluscs; also takes seaweeds and corals.
Trophic level: FishBase: 3.1
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Valuable commercial species.
Conservation status: Global: Not evaluated.
Europe: Least concern.
Nutritional information & food safety:
Proximate composition per 100 g:
energy value 174.0 kcal (8.7% DRV)
protein 32.69 g (65.4% DRV)
fat 3.82 g (5.5% DRV)
of which saturates 1.636 g (6.8% DRV)
omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids 0.899 g
REFERENCES
Direcção Regional de Pescas, Madeira.
Fischer W., Bianchi G., Scott W.B., eds. (1981). FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Eastern Central Atlantic; fishing areas 34, 47 (in part). Canada Funds-in-Trust. Ottawa, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, by arrangement with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, vol. 4, 316 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.
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.
Nogueira N., Cordeiro N., Aveiro M.J. (2012). Chemical composition, fatty acids profile and cholesterol content of commercialized marine fishes captured in Northeastern Atlantic. Journal of Fisheries Sciences, 7(3): 271-286.
Rosa A., Menezes G., Melo O., Pinho M.R. (2006). Weight–length relationships of 33 demersal fish species from Azores archipelago. Fisheries Research, 80(2): 329-332.
