Description: An oblong, compressed and moderately deep bodied seabream. Single, continuous dorsal fin. Silvery pink; darker on the head and dorsal side and pale on the ventral side. Young specimens sometimes have minute blue spots on the upper sides. Pectoral fins are long and pointed; caudal fin moderately forked. The fins are pink; the caudal fin dark pink with a bright red margin.
Global Distribution: Eastern Atlantic from the British Isles to 15°N (rare southward of 20°N), including Madeira and the Canary Islands; Mediterranean. Western Atlantic from New York, USA to Argentina. View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Maximum length 91.0 cm (total length); common length 35.0 cm (standard length); maximum published weight 7.7 kg, but there are reports of 17 kg individuals (in the Mediterranean).
Depth range: FishBase: 0 - 250 m, usually 10 - 80 m. Larger individuals are found in deeper waters.
Habitat: Benthopelagic. Found over rock, rubble, or sand bottoms (young frequently found on seagrass beds and the continental shelf) down to about 250 m depth.
Feeding habits: Feeds on crustaceans, fishes, and molluscs.
Trophic level: FishBase: 3.7
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Important commercial species in Madeira.
Conservation status: Global: Endangered.
Europe: Least concern.
Nutritional information & food safety:
Proximate composition per 100 g:
energy value 104.3 kcal (5.2% DRV)
protein 22.89 g (45.8% DRV)
fat 0.73 g (1.0% DRV)
of which saturates 0.222 g (1.1% DRV)
omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids 0.401
Health warning: reports of ciguatera poisoning in some areas.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
