Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Perciformes (Perch-likes) > Sparidae (Porgies)
Etymology: Sarpa: Spanish, sarpo, sapo = toad; a toad-fish (1753) (Ref. 45335).

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; brackish; benthopelagic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 5 - 70 m (Ref. 3688). Subtropical, preferred 25°C (Ref. 107945); 45°N - 40°S, 26°W - 36°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Atlantic: Bay of Biscay and Strait of Gibraltar to Sierra Leone, including Madeira, the Canary Islands, and Cape Verde; Congo to South Africa. Also present in the Mediterranean.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m 16.5 range ? - ? cm
Max length : 51.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3397); common length : 30.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4781)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 11 - 12; Dorsal soft rays (total): 14-17; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 13 - 15. Black spot at the pectoral fin base. Body relatively slender with 10 golden longitudinal stripes (Ref. 35388).

Found over rocky substrates and sandy area with algal growth. Gregarious, sometimes forming sizeable schools. Young mainly carnivorous on crustaceans, adults almost exclusively herbivorous (Ref. 4781), feed on seaweeds (Ref. 36731). Protandric hermaphrodite (Ref. 4781). Tasty when fresh, but easily softens and is not much esteemed (Ref. 3198).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

A monandric species (Ref. 55367). Sex change occurs at 25.0 cm TL and 3.75 years of age (Ref. 55367). Conflicting descriptions of the reproductive style of this species have been reported, including possible gonochorism (Ref. 103751). Also Ref. 28504.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

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. 115185)

Least Concern (LC)

CITES (Ref. 94142)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes; bait: occasionally

FAO(fisheries: production; publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

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Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805): PD₅₀ = 1.0000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01259 (0.01124 - 0.01411), b=3.03 (3.00 - 3.06), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).

Trophic Level (Ref. 69278): 2.0 ±0.0 se; Based on diet studies.

Resilience (Ref. 69278): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tmax=15; tm=2; K=0.20-.027;).

Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Moderate vulnerability (41 of 100) .

Price category (Ref. 80766): Medium.

Sarpa salpa (Linnaeus, 1758)