| Synonyms
| | | | Opsodentex macrophthalmus Fowler, 1925: 4. | | | Dentex macrophthalmus opsophthalmus Ananiades, 1950. Prakt. Hellen. Hidrobiol. Inst., 4 (1): 5, 5 fig. (Aegean sea). |
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| FAO Names | | En - Large-eye dentex, Fr - Denté à gros yeux, Sp - Cachucho. |
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3Alpha Code: DEL Taxonomic Code: 1703906002 |
| Scientific Name with Original Description | | | Sparus macrophthalmus Bloch, 1791. Nat. Ausl. Fische. 5: 93, pl. 272, (no locality).1791. Type: ZMB 1114. |
| Diagnostic Features
| | Body oval and compressed. Head profile regularly inclined from nape; eye very large, its diameter greater than snout length; suborbital space narrow; posterior nostril rounded.
Cheeks scaly; scales also on preopercle, except at its posterior margin.
Mouth low and oblique.
Several rows of canine-like teeth, outer row the strongest, with 4 well developed anterior teeth (in upper jaw, visible when mouth is closed) and 10 small anterior teeth (clearly smaller than the upper canines) in lower jaw.
Gillrakers in first arch 17 to 20 lower and 9 to 12 upper.
Dorsal fin with 11 or 12 spines and 10 or 11 soft rays, the spines increasing in length from the first to the fourth or fifth and subequal thereafter. Anal fin with 3 spines and 8 or 9 soft rays.
Scales along lateral line 49 to 55.
Colour of body and fins reddish, lateral line more bright red; spinous portion of dorsal fin whitish at base. Anal fin edged with white; inferior margin of lower caudal fin lobe white. The coloration becomes more intense during the spawning season.
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| Geographical Distribution | | | Mediterranean, very rare in the north-western basin, common in the south-western and abundant in the eastern basin; absent in Black Sea. Atlantic from Portugal (rare) to Cape Verde including the Canary Islands, and from Congo to Namibia; abundant along Morocco coast. |  Launch the Aquatic Species Distribution map viewer |
| Habitat and Biology | | Benthopelagic (demersal behaviour)On the shelf and slope, inhabiting rocky or sandy bottoms from 30 to 500 m (Atlantic), less in Mediterranean (100-200 m Aegean Sea, 250 m Lebanon coast). Large specimens further from the shore than the young.
Seasonal migrations to and off the coast according to local hydrological variations and biological cycle.
Reproduction in March-April (Atlantic), April-May (southern Mediterranean); maturity at 2 years (about 24 cm); gonochoric; sex ratio: 70% females (Atlantic).
Carnivorous (fish and crustaceans), young planktonophagus. |
| Size | | | Maximum 65 cm; common to 24 cm |
| Interest to Fisheries | | Caught with bottom trawls, bottom longlines and on hooks and lines. Catch statistics reported for this species totalled 29 000 t in 1977; most of the catch (about 23 000 t) was taken by the URRS in the southern.
Flesh highly esteemed. Marketed fresh or frozen; also used for fishmeal and oil. | | | |
| Local Names | | | ALBANIA :
Dentalis symsdh . |
| ANGOLA :
Breca ,
Cachucho . |
| FRANCE :
Denté aux gros yeux . |
| GERMANY :
Gro²augen-Zahnbrasse . |
| ISRAEL :
Shenun gdol eyen . |
| ITALY :
Dentice occhione . |
| MAURITANIA :
Daurade á gros yeux . |
| NAMIBIA :
Reds ,
Walvis Bay reds . |
| POLAND :
Kielczak wielkooki . |
| PORTUGAL :
Cachucho ,
Chucho ,
Vermeho fundo . |
| ROMANIA :
Dentex cu ochi mari . |
| SOUTH AFRICA :
Grootoog-denteks ,
Large-eted-dentex . |
| SPAIN :
Cachocho ,
Cachucho ,
Pagell déntol . |
| TURKEY :
Irigoz sinagrit ,
Irigöz singrit . |
| UNITED KINGDOM :
Large-eye dentex ,
Largeeye dentex . |
| UNITED STATES :
Large eyed dentex . |
| YUGOSLAVIA :
Pagric ,
Rumeni ,
Zubacic ,
Zubataç . |
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| Remarks | | Polysteganus Kluzinger, 1870 (subgenus). Verh. Zool.-Bot. Gesellschaft. Wien v. 20: 763 (type: Polysteganus coeruleopunctatus Kluzinger, 1870, by subs. design. of Jordan, 1919). This species is often confused with the Dentex maroccanus Valenciennes, 1830 (Tortonese, 1973).
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Bibliography Ananiades, C. - 1950. Contribution á la systématique et á la biologie de l'espèce Dentex macrophthalmus (Bloch) forma opsophthalmus (Anan.) de la mer égée. Praktika ell. Udrobiol. Inst., 4 (1): 5-33, 5 fig Bauchot, M.-L. - 1987. Sparidae. In: W. Fischer and M.-L. Bauchot and M. Schneider (eds). Fiches FAO d'Identification des espèces pour les besoins de la pêche (Révison 1). Méditerranée et mer Noire. Zone de pêche 37. Vol. II. Vértebrés: 761-1530. Bauchot, M.-L., J.-C. Hureau & J.C. Miquel - 1981. Sparidae In: W. Fischer, G. Bianchi and W.Scott (eds). FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Eastern Central Atlantic; fishing areas 34, 47 (in part). Canada Funds-in-Trust. Ottawa, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, by arrangement with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, vol. IV : pag. Var. Bauchot, M.-L. & J.-C. Hureau - 1986. Sparidae. In: P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds). Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean (FNAM). Unesco, Paris. Vol. II: 883-907. Bauchot, M.-L. & J.-C. Hureau - 1990. Sparidae In: J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha. Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT-Portugal, SEI-France, Unesco. Vol. II: 790-812 Bloch, M.E. - 1791. Naturgeschichte der ausländischen Fische, Berlin, 5: vi+152 p., 36 pl. (CCLIII-CCLXXXVIII). Fowler, H.W. - 1925. New taxonomic names of west-african marine fishes. Am. Mus. Novit., 162: 1-5. Klunzinger, C. - 1870. Synopsis der Fische des Rothen Meeres. I. Theil. Percoiden-Mugiloiden. Verh. K.-K. Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien v. 20: 669-834. [Also as "Systematische Uebersicht der Fische des Rothen Meeres, als Anhang und Register zur Synopsis." Wien, 1871.] Lloris, D - 1986. Ictiofauna demersal y aspectos biogeográficos de la costa sudoccidental de África (SWA/Namibia). Monogr. Zool. Mar., I: 9-432, 228 figs., tab. I-CCI. Tortonese, E. - 1973. Sparidae. In: J.-C. Hureau and Th. Monod (eds). Check-list of the fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and of the Mediterranean (CLOFNAM). Unesco, Paris, vol. I: 405-415 |
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