Description: A large carnivorous fish. Body elongate, moderately shallow, and slightly compressed, with upper profile more convex than lower. Caudal peduncle grooves present. Dorsal surface dark, sides lighter, belly white or silvery. A faint dark band extending backward from the eye may be present. Juveniles present 7 dark irregular bands.
Global Distribution: Western Atlantic; Eastern Atlantic (Madeira); Mediterranean (Turkey). View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Maximum length 67.5 cm (fork length); common length 50.0 cm (total length); maximum published weight: 4.6 kg.
Depth range: FishBase: 55 - 130 m.
Canary Islands (Brito et al. 2002): 1 - 400 m.
Habitat: Benthopelagic. Smaller juveniles epipelagic in oceanic or offshore neritic waters. Adults are benthopelagic near the coasts, mainly on abrupt rocky bottoms.
Feeding habits: Feeds mainly on fishes and squid.
Trophic level: FishBase: 4.5
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Commercial species. Commercially it is not distinguished from other Seriola spp.
Conservation status: Global: Not evaluated.
Europe: Least concern.
Nutritional information & food safety:
Proximate composition per 100 g:
energy value 113.6 kcal (5.7% DRV)
protein 21.15 g (42.3% DRV)
fat 2.58 g (3.7% DRV)
of which saturates 0.887 g (4.4% DRV)
omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids 0.942
Health warning: reports of ciguatera poisoning in some areas.
REFERENCES
Brito A., Pascual P.J., Falcón J.M., Sancho A., González G. (2002). Peces de las islas Canarias. Catálogo comentado e ilustrado. Francisco Lemos Editor, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, 418 pp.
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., Rome.
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
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.
Oliveira M.T., Santos M.N., Coelho R., Monteiro V., Martins A., Lino P.G. (2014). Weight–length and length–length relationships for reef fish species from the Cape Verde Archipelago (tropical northâ€eastern Atlantic). Journal of Applied Ichthyology, in press.
