Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Perciformes
(Perch-likes) > Sparidae
Etymology: Lithognathus: Greek, lithos = stone + Greek, gnathos = jaw (Ref. 45335).
Environment / Climate / Range
Marine; brackish; demersal; depth range 0 - 150 m (Ref. 3688), usually 10 - 20 m (Ref. 37413). Subtropical; 50°N - 40°S
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 18.8, range 20 - ? cm
Max length : 55.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3397); common length : 30.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3688); max. reported age: 12 years (Ref. 13716)
Eastern Atlantic: Bay of Biscay, Strait of Gibraltar and Mediterranean, Black, and Azov seas to Cape of Good Hope, South Africa and the Mozambique Channel. Also found around the Canary Islands, Cape Verde (Ref. 4781) and Madeira Is (Ref. 74541). Western Indian Ocean: Red Sea; southern Mozambique to the Cape of Good Hope; not found in tropical east Africa (Ref. 3198).
Found on the shelf, over sandy and muddy bottoms as well as seagrass-beds and estuaries. Gregarious, sometimes forming sizeable schools. Feeds on worms, mollusks and small crustaceans. Protandric hermaphrodite (Ref. 3688). Flesh excellent (Ref. 3198); sold fresh and dried.
A monandric species (Ref. 55367). In the northern Adriatic, overall male to female ratio was 1:1.62. Sex inversion occurred mainly between 24.1 and 35.2 cm TL and 3.5 years of age (Ref. 55367). Also Ref. 28504.
Bauchot, M.-L. and J.-C. Hureau, 1990. Sparidae. p. 790-812. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 3688)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 96402)
CITES (Ref. 94142)
Threat to humans
Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
Estimates of some properties based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805
= 0.5625 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01259 (0.01114 - 0.01423), b=3.04 (3.01 - 3.07), based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278
): 3.4 ±0.50 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278
): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.24; tm=2).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153
): Moderate vulnerability (40 of 100) .