Cold and temperate sea fish

European Sea Bass

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Identity card

European Sea Bass

Scientific name:: Dicentrarchus labrax

Family:: Moronidae

Class:: Actinopterygii

Phylum:: Chordata

Year of description:: Linnaeus, 1758

IUCN Status:: Least Concern

CITES-status:: Not Evaluated

Distribution:: Mediterranean Sea, North-East Atlantic

Habitat:: Between the surface and a depth of about 30 metres.

Size:: Between 70 and 80 cm on average

Diet:: Crustaceans, cephalopods and fish.

Longevity:: 30 years

Its lifespan varies according to where it lives. In an aquarium, it can live up to thirty years.

This fish is called a "sea bass" in the Atlantic Ocean and a "loup de mer" or "sea wolf" in the Mediterranean. The sea bass is a relatively solitary fish although it may associate with other fish of the same size during its life to form shoals.

did you know?

The sexual maturity of sea bass varies according to their gender and where they live. Spawning (the period when two fish come together sexually) takes place on the coast by external reproduction.

Juveniles feed on crustaceans. Adults supplement this diet with cephalopods and fish. Sea bass hunt alone, lying in wait near the seabed or facing the current.

Where is the animal to be found?

Sea bass like choppy, highly oxygenated seas. They live mainly above the sandy or rocky bottoms of the coastline between the surface and a depth of about 30 metres. They finds their way into brackish waters and harbours.

They are found in the Mediterranean Sea, the North-East Atlantic, from Norway to Morocco.

How can it be recognised?

It measures between 70 and 80 cm on average.

What is distinctive about it?

The Greeks and Romans viewed the wolf as intelligent and cunning because it was thought that it could hide in the sand to avoid a net, or even break free from its entanglements.