Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Perciformes
(Perch-likes) > Sparidae
Etymology: Pagellus: Diminutive of Latin, pager, derived from Greek, pagros = a fish, Dentex sp. (Ref. 45335).
Environment / Climate / Range
Marine; benthopelagic; depth range ? - 700 m (Ref. 56504), usually 150 - 300 m (Ref. 35388). Temperate; 65°N - 20°N, 32°W - 17°E
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 25.0  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 70.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4781); common length : 30.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4781); max. published weight: 4.0 kg (Ref. 9987); max. reported age: 15 years (Ref. 4645)
Eastern Atlantic: Norway, Strait of Gibraltar to Cape Blanc in Mauritania, Madeira, Canary Islands, and western Mediterranean (rare beyond the Sicilian Strait). Reported from Iceland (Ref. 12462).
Inshore waters above various types of bottom (rocks, sand, mud) to 400 m (Mediterranean) and 700 m (Atlantic); young near the coast, adults on the continental slope specially over muddy bottoms. Omnivorous, but feed mainly on crustaceans, mollusks, worms and small fish. Protandric hermaphrodites, become females at 20-30 cm length. Adults move towards the coast up to the edge of the continental shelf to spawn from January to June (Ref. 3688). Important foodfish. Marketed fresh and frozen; consumed pan-fried, broiled and baked (Ref. 9987).
Protandric hermaphrodite species (male during its first sexual maturity). Becomes female between 2 and 7 years of age. Spawns from January to June, depending on latitude. Egg size 1.19 mm, larval length at hatching 3.7 mm.
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: commercial; gamefish: yes
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
Estimates of some properties based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805
= 0.5156 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01202 (0.01040 - 0.01390), b=3.04 (3.01 - 3.07), based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278
): 4.2 ±0.6 se; Based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 69278
): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.09-0.1; tmax=15; tm=4-5; Fec=70,000).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153
): High vulnerability (57 of 100) .