Description: A medium-sized seabream; body oblong and compressed laterally. Upper profile of the head straight; snout conical, scaleless. Cheeks scaly. Mouth with thick lips; pointed teeth in the front and molars posteriorly. Single dorsal fin. Caudal fin forked. Bright pink with a number of small blue spots scattered on the flanks; head darker. The upper margin of the opercle is bright red; has a reddish spot on the base of the pectoral fins, and sometimes a dark red mark at the base of the last dorsal rays.
Global Distribution: Eastern Atlantic from Norway to Guinea-Bissau, including Madeira, Canary Islands and Cape Verde; also in the Mediterranean. View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Maximum length 60.0 cm (standard length); common length 25.0 cm (SL); maximum published weight 3.2 kg.
Age:
Weight length rel.: Portugal, south coast (Santos et al. 2002): a=0.0189, b=2.881, r2=0.954 (n=1075).
Portugal, west coast (Mendes et al. 2004): a=0.0171, b=2.906, r2=0.944 (n=103).
Spain, south-west coast (Torres et al. 2012): a=0.0111, b=3.035, r2=0.99 (n=478).
FishBase: Bayesian estimated length-weight: a=0.01288 (0.01057 - 0.01570), b=3.03 (3.00 - 3.06).
Growth type: Negative allometric (Santos et al. 2002) / isometric (Mendes et al. 2004; Torres et al. 2012).
von Bertallanfy growth parameters:
Reproduction: Protogynic hermaphrodites, individuals mature first as females and become males in their third year with sizes of about 17 cm.
Maturity: 14.7 cm, range 13 - 16 cm.
Behavioural ecology: Usually solitary or in small groups of 3 or 4 individuals, swimming close to the bottom.
Population structure & migrations:
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: FishBase: ? - 300 m, usually 20 - 100 m.
Habitat: Benthopelagic. Found on inshore waters, on various bottoms (rock, gravel, sand and mud) to 200 m (Mediterranean) or 300 m (Atlantic) and move to deeper waters during winter. Young are found in shallower waters.
Feeding habits: Omnivorous, but feeds mainly on benthic invertebrates and small fishes.
Trophic level: FishBase: 3.4
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Commercial species.
Conservation status: Global: Not evaluated.
Europe: Least concern.
Nutritional information & food safety: Health warning: reports of ciguatera poisoning in some areas.
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.
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.
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.
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.
