Description: A medium-sized seabream, oblong and laterally compressed. Head profile rounded; short snout, and large eyes. Cheeks scaly; snout scaleless. Mouth with pointed teeth anteriorly and molars posteriorly. Single dorsal fin. Last rays of dorsal and anal fin stronger. Caudal fin forked. Reddish grey; darker on the head and lighter on the belly; with a conspicuous dark blotch at the origin of the lateral line, and sometimes a small dark spot at the pectoral axil. Fins bright pink or orange; inside of the mouth orange-red.
Global Distribution: Eastern Atlantic from Norway to Senegal, including Azores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands; also in the Mediterranean. Occasionally reported from Iceland. View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Maximum length 70.0 cm (standard length); common length 30.0 cm (SL); maximum published weight 4.0 kg.
Reproduction: Protandric hermaphrodites, become females at 20-30 cm length. Adults move towards the coast up to the edge of the continental shelf to spawn from January to June.
Maturity: 25.0 cm
Behavioural ecology:
Population structure & migrations:
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: FishBase: ? - 700 m, usually 150 - 300 m.
Habitat: Benthopelagic. Inshore waters above various types of bottom (rocks, sand, mud); young near the coast, adults on the continental or insular slope specially over muddy bottoms. Also over seamounts.
Feeding habits: Omnivorous, but feed mainly on crustaceans, molluscs, worms and small fish.
Trophic level: FishBase: 3.7
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Commercial species.
Conservation status: Global: Not evaluated.
Europe: Near threatened.
Nutritional information & food safety:
Proximate composition per 100 g:
energy value 116.27 kcal (5.8% DRV)
protein 19.16 g (38.3% DRV)
fat 0.63 g (0.9% DRV)
of which saturates 0.20 g (1.0% DRV)
omega-3 (EPA+DHA): 0.276 g (recommended: 0.250 - 2.0 g daily)
REFERENCES
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.
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.
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.
