Teleostei (teleosts) > Eupercaria/misc (Various families in series Eupercaria) > Sparidae (Porgies)
Etymology: Pagrus: Greek, pagros = a fish, Dentex, sp. (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Linnaeus.

Marine; benthopelagic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 250 m (Ref. 3688) usually 10 - 80 m (Ref. 9626); subtropical; 51°N - 43°S98°W - 36°E.

Eastern Atlantic: Strait of Gibraltar to 15°N (rare southward 20°N), including Madeira and the Canary Islands; Mediterranean and northward to the British Isles. Western Atlantic: New York, USA and northern Gulf of Mexico to Argentina (Ref. 7251), including the continental coast of the Caribbean Sea (Ref. 9626).

Maturity: L_m 26.6, range 19 - ? cm
Max length: 91.0 cm TL male/unsexed (Ref. 9710); common length: 35.0 cm SL male/unsexed (Ref. 4781); max. published weight: 7.7 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 26 years (Ref. 123644).

Found over rock, rubble, or sand bottoms (young frequently found on seagrass beds and the continental shelf (Ref. 47377)) down to about 250 m depth, often above 150 m. In southwest Brazil found in 160 m depth (Ref. 47377). Feeds on crustaceans, fishes, and mollusks (Ref. 3688). Its toxic nature is uncertain (Ref. 4690). Marketed fresh and frozen (Ref. 9987). Reported weights of caught individuals were between 9 to 17 kgs (9-10 off the west coast of Greece) (Hans Bollnert, hassebollnert@yahoo.gr, pers.comm. 12/09). It is parasitised by the monogeneans Anoplodiscus longivaginatus and Anoplodiscus richiardii (species inquirenda) on the fins and body surface (Ref. 124057).

Protogynous hermaphrodite species. First sexual maturity occurs at 3 years of age (about 24 cm), first behaving as females and then as males. Spawning happens at 1 5-19° and it tends to be in spring, depending on the habitat (in the Canary Islands it can start in January). Also Ref. 28504, 41163

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)

  Least Concern (LC); date assessed: August 17 2009

Not Evaluated

Not Evaluated

  Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 4690)

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Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 15.8 - 27.8, mean 24.1 °C (based on 1356 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5156 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01318 (0.01200 - 0.01448), b=3.03 (3.00 - 3.06), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.9 ±0.2 se; Based on diet studies.

Generation time: 6.6 (5.1 - 10.0) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 12 growth studies.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.13-0.27; tmax=11; tm=0.9-3.0).

Prior r = 0.28, 95% CL = 0.19 - 0.42, Based on 1 full stock assessment.

Fishing vulnerability (Ref. 59153): High vulnerability (58 of 100).

Climate vulnerability (Ref. 125649): Moderate to high vulnerability (51 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Very high; Reliable: based on ex-vessel price for this species.

Nutrients (Ref. 124155): Calcium = 33.4 [18.0, 61.6] mg/100g; Iron = 1 [0, 2] mg/100g; Protein = 19.8 [18.2, 21.3] %; Omega3 = 0.3 [0.2, 0.5] g/100g; Selenium = 39.3 [18.2, 75.9] μg/100g; VitaminA = 14.7 [4.2, 49.5] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.618 [0.326, 1.227] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.