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Lithognathus mormyrus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Sand steenbras
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Lithognathus mormyrus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Lithognathus mormyrus (Sand steenbras)
Lithognathus mormyrus
Picture by Patzner, R.


South Africa country information

Common names: Sand steenbras, Sandsteenbras
Occurrence: native
Salinity: brackish
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: gamefish: yes;
Comments: Stock sound (Ref. 4332).
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/sf.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Smith, J.L.B. and M.M. Smith, 1986
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Eupercaria/misc (Various families in series Eupercaria) > Sparidae (Porgies)
Etymology: Lithognathus: Greek, lithos = stone + Greek, gnathos = jaw (Ref. 45335).
  More on author: Linnaeus.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; demersal; depth range 0 - 150 m (Ref. 3688), usually 10 - 20 m (Ref. 37413).   Subtropical; 48°N - 35°S, 25°W - 36°E

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

Eastern Atlantic: Bay of Biscay, Strait of Gibraltar and Mediterranean; southward to Cape of Good Hope, South Africa; around the Canary and Cape Verde Islands (Ref. 3688); and Madeira Is (Ref. 74541). Western Indian Ocean: southern Mozambique (Ref. 3688). Not found in tropical east Africa (Ref. 3198), Red Sea (Ref. 84159) and Black Sea (Ref. 4781, 112870).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 17.4, 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)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 11; Dorsal soft rays (total): 12 - 13; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 10 - 11.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

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.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

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). 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. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 16 August 2009

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO(Fisheries: production; publication : search) | FIRMS (Stock assessments) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 17.1 - 27.5, mean 24.4 (based on 224 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5625   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01202 (0.01073 - 0.01347), b=3.02 (2.99 - 3.05), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.5   ±0.39 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.24; tm=2).
Prior r = 0.54, 95% CL = 0.36 - 0.81, Based on 1 full stock assessment.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (40 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Low to moderate vulnerability (31 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.