Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) >
Perciformes (Perch-likes) >
Sparidae (Porgies)
Etymology: Boops: Greek, bous = caw + Greek, ops = appearance, 1854 (Ref. 45335).
Environment / Climate / Range
Ecology
Marine; demersal; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 350 m (Ref. 26999), usually 0 - 100 m (Ref. 26999). Subtropical, preferred 21°C (Ref. 107945); 63°N - 16°S, 26°W - 42°E (Ref. 54286)
Eastern Atlantic: Norway to Angola, including the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, and the Sao Tome-Principe Islands. Common from Bay of Biscay to Gibraltar (Ref. 4781). Also found in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 14.3  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 36.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3397); common length : 20.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3397)
Found on the shelf or coastal pelagic on various bottoms (sand, mud, rocks and seaweeds). Gregarious, ascending to the surface mainly at night. Omnivorous, feeding mainly on crustaceans, also planktophagous. Hermaphroditic, generally protogynous. Also caught in pelagic trawls (Ref. 9987). Utilized fresh and frozen; consumed pan-fried, broiled and baked (Ref. 9987).
Conflicting descriptions of the reproductive style of this species have been reported, Ref. 34225 describe this species as being a gonochorist (Ref. 28504). Also Ref. 32206, 103751.
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)
CITES (Ref. 94142)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: highly commercial; gamefish: yes; bait: usually
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Estimates of some properties based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82805): PD
50 = 0.7500 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01047 (0.00941 - 0.01165), b=3.01 (2.98 - 3.04), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref.
93245).
Trophic Level (Ref.
69278): 2.8 ±0.0 se; Based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref.
69278): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.16-0.4; tm=1-2; Fec=395,000).
Prior r = 0.59, 2 SD range = 0.31 - 1.10, log(r) = -0.53, SD log(r) = 0.31, Based on: 1 M, 18 K, 6 tgen, 1 tmax, 3 Fec records
Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Moderate to high vulnerability (49 of 100) .