Description: A medium-sized seabream. Body fusiform, moderately compressed laterally. Upper profile of the head depressed above the eyes. Cheeks scaly; snout scaleless. Mouth with thick lips; teeth differentiated into pointed teeth and molars. Dorsal fin single. Last dorsal and anal fin rays clearly stronger. Caudal fin forked. Pinkish grey; head darker; a dark red mark at the pectoral axil; fins pinkish, sometimes with a darker margin; the inside of the mouth is orange red.
Global Distribution: Eastern Atlantic from the Bay of Biscay to Senegal, including Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands, Cape Verde; rare in the British Isles but recorded occasionally off Denmark. Also in the Mediterranean. View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Maximum length 36.0 cm (standard length); common length 25.0 cm (SL).
Age:
Weight length rel.: Madeira (Ferreira et al. 2008): a=0.01922 (0.00618 - 0.05978), b=2.977 (2.617 - 3.376), r2=0.914 (n=15).
Azores (Rosa et al. 2006): a=0.0158, b=3.060, r2=0.910 (n=354).
Portugal, south coast (Borges et al. 2003): a=0.00844, b=3.146, r2=0.99 (n=42).
Portugal, south coast (Santos et al. 2002): a=0.0085, b=3.153, r2=0.978 (n=702).
Portugal, west coast (Mendes et al. 2004): a=0.0161, b=2.971, r2=0.940 (n=1081).
Spain, south-west coast (Torres et al. 2012): a=0.0044, b=3.349, r2=0.99 (n=414).
Cape Verde (Pereira et al. 2012): a=0.0062, b=3.381, r2=0.981 (n=39).
FishBase: Bayesian estimated length-weight: a=0.01380 (0.01142 - 0.01669), b=3.05 (3.02 - 3.08).
Growth type: Positive allometric (Santos et al. 2002; Torres et al. 2012) / isometric (Mendes et al. 2004).
von Bertallanfy growth parameters:
Reproduction: Protandrous hermaphrodite. Individuals mature first as males and then change sex to females.
Maturity: 16.0 cm
Behavioural ecology:
Population structure & migrations:
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: FishBase: ? - 500 m, usually 40 - 100 m.
Habitat: Benthopelagic. Adults inhabit various types of bottoms, especially seagrass beds and sand down to 500 m depth, but more common between 40 and 100 m. The young are found nearer to the shore, from 10-15 m depth.
Feeding habits: Omnivorous, but prefers worms, molluscs, small crustaceans, and fish larvae.
Trophic level: FishBase: 3.5
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Commercial species.
Conservation status: Global: Not evaluated.
Europe: Least concern.
Nutritional information & food safety:
Proximate composition per 100 g:
energy value 224.7 kcal (11.2% DRV)
protein 19.7 g (39.4% DRV)
fat 10.9 g (15.6% DRV)
REFERENCES
Borges T.C., Olim S., Erzini K. (2003). Weight–length relationships for fish species discarded in commercial fisheries of the Algarve (southern Portugal). Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 19(6): 394-396.
Direcção Regional de Pescas, Madeira.
Ferreira S., Sousa R., Delgado J., Carvalho D., Chada T. (2008). Weight-length relationships for demersal fish species caught off the Madeira archipelago (eastern-central Atlantic). Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 24: 93-95.
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.
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
Mendes B., Fonseca P., Campos A. (2004). Weight–length relationships for 46 fish species of the Portuguese west coast. Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 20(5): 355-361.
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.
Pereira J.N., Simas A., Rosa A., Aranha A., Lino S., Constantino E., Monteiro V., Tariche O., Menezes G. (2012). Weight–length relationships for 27 demersal fish species caught off the Cape Verde archipelago (eastern North Atlantic). Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 28(1): 156-159.
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.
Santos M.N., Gaspar M.B., Vasconcelos P., Monteiro C.C. (2002). Weight–length relationships for 50 selected fish species of the Algarve coast (southern Portugal). Fisheries Research, 59(1): 289-295.
Spitz J., Mourocq E. Schoen V., Ridoux V. (2010). Proximate composition and energy content of forage species from the Bay of Biscay: high- or low-quality food? ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67(5): 909-915.
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.
