Teleostei (teleosts) >
Eupercaria/misc (Various families in series Eupercaria) >
Sparidae (Porgies)
Etymology: Polysteganus: Greek, polys = a lot of + Greek, stego, stege = covered (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Regan.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; reef-associated; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 30 - ? m (Ref. 5213). Subtropical; 17°S - 30°S
Western Indian Ocean: southern Mozambique to Durban, South Africa.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - 35 cm
Max length : 120 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3507); common length : 80.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3507); max. published weight: 16.0 kg (Ref. 4699)
Found over rocky reef and banks of deep waters. Carnivorous species which feeds mainly on fish and squid (Ref. 5213). An excellent food fish. Sold fresh.
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
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes
Tools
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5039 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.02512 (0.01226 - 0.05148), b=2.96 (2.79 - 3.13), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 4.1 ±0.60 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.18-0.28).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): High vulnerability (57 of 100).