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Dicentrarchus labrax  (Linnaeus, 1758)

European seabass
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Dicentrarchus labrax
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country information

Common names: [No common name]
Occurrence:
Salinity:
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments:
National Checklist:
Country Information:
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
National Database:

Classification / Names

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Perciformes (Perch-likes) > Moronidae (Temperate basses)
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Common names from other countries

Bar européen, Lubina, Bass, ... more

Main reference

Smith, C.L. 1990. (Ref. 6916)
 References | Biblio | Coordinator : Heemstra, Phillip C. | Collaborators

Size / Weight / Age

Max length : 103 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); common length : 50.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 6916); max. published weight: 12.0 kg (Ref. 1468); max. reported age: 30 years (Ref. 59043)

Length at first maturity
 Lm 32.3, range 23 - 46 cm

Environment

Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; oceanodromous; depth range 10 - 100 m (Ref. 9987)

Climate / Range

Subtropical; 8°C - 24°C (Ref. 4944), preferred 11°C (Ref. 107945); 72°N - 11°N, 19°W - 42°E (Ref. 54221)

Distribution

Eastern Atlantic: Norway to Morocco, the Canary Islands and Senegal. Also known from the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Absent from White, Barents, Baltic and Caspian Seas (Ref. 59043).
 Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Short description

Dorsal spines (total): 8 - 10; Dorsal soft rays (total): 12-13; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 10 - 12. Diagnosis: head with cycloid scales above; mouth moderately protractile (Ref. 231). Vomerine teeth only anteriorly (Ref. 231), in a crescentic band (Ref. 231, 57391). Scales on interorbital space cycloid (Ref. 57391). Posterior edge of opercle finely serrated, lower edge with strong forward- directed denticles (Ref. 231). 2 flat opercular spines (Ref. 231, 57391). Young with some dark spots on upper part of body (Ref. 231).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults manifest demersal behavior, inhabit coastal waters down to about 100m depth but more common in shallow waters (Ref. 54221, 57391). Found in the littoral zone on various kinds of bottoms on estuaries, lagoons and occasionally rivers. They enter coastal waters and river mouths in summer, but migrate offshore in colder weather and occur in deep water during winter in the northern range. Young fish form school, but adults appear to be less gregarious (Ref. 9987). Feed chiefly on shrimps and mollusks, also on fishes (Ref. 5990). Juveniles feed on invertebrates, taking increasingly more fish with age. Adults piscivorous . (Ref. 59043). Spawn in batches (Ref. 51846). Spawning takes place in the spring near the British Isles, and earlier in its southern range. Eggs are pelagic (Ref. 35388). Marketed fresh or smoked (Ref. 9987). Highly sought by sport fishermen (Ref. 30578).

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

  Least Concern (LC) 

Threat to humans

  Harmless



Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Identification keys | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Alien/Invasive Species database | BHL | Check for other websites | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO(Aquaculture: production, species profile; fisheries: production, species profile; publication : search) | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | iSpecies | National databases | Public aquariums | PubMed | Scirus | Sea Around Us | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | uBio | uBio RSS | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record | Fishtrace

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805)
 PD50 = 0.7656 many relatives (e.g. carps) 0.5 - 2.0 few relatives (e.g. lungfishes)

Trophic Level (Ref. 69278)
 3.5   ±0.50 se; Based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 69278)
 Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.06-0.33; tm=2-8; tmax=30; Fec=230,000)

Vulnerability (Ref. 59153)
 Moderate to high vulnerability (49 of 100)
Price category (Ref. 80766)
 Very high