Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; brackish; demersal; depth range 10 - ? m. Subtropical; 28°S - 34°S
Southeast Atlantic: Mossel Bay to Natal in South Africa.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 57.5 range ? - 70 cm
Max length : 200 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3198); common length : 100.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3507); max. published weight: 80.0 kg (Ref. 4537)
Found near rocky banks in coastal waters including estuaries. Adults solitary and territorial. Feeds on octopus, crabs and fish, especially Spondyliosoma. The flesh is highly esteemed, but the liver is poisonous due to high vitamin A content which causes hypervitaminosis. Popular angling fish. Largest of the porgies.
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Smith, J.L.B. and M.M. Smith, 1986. Sparidae. p. 580-594. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. (Ref. 3198)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Poisonous to eat (Ref. 3507)
Human uses
Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes
Tools
Special reports
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 15 - 24, mean 22.2 °C (based on 10 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 1.0000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01549 (0.00885 - 0.02710), b=3.04 (2.89 - 3.19), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 4.5 ±0.61 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 14.6 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 2
growth studies.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.08; tm=5-7; tmax=30;).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Very high vulnerability (80 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref.
125649): Very high vulnerability (92 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 29 [17, 56] mg/100g; Iron = 0.833 [0.448, 1.585] mg/100g; Protein = 20.2 [19.2, 21.3] %; Omega3 = 0.36 [0.22, 0.60] g/100g; Selenium = 37.5 [16.0, 74.5] μg/100g; VitaminA = 9.94 [2.73, 33.75] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.486 [0.332, 0.711] mg/100g (wet weight);
