The common pandora (''Pagellus erythrinus''), also known as king of the breams, pandora red pandora or Spanish seabream, is a species of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Sparidae Sparidae is a family of ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Spariformes, the seabreams and porgies, although they were traditionally classified in the order Perciformes. The over 150 species are found in shallow and deep marine waters in t ...

, which includes the seabreams and porgies. This fish is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It is an esteemed food fish.

Taxonomy

The common pandora was first formally described as ''Sparus erythrinus'' by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' published in 1758 with its type locality given as the Mediterranean and America. The genus ''Pagellus'' is placed in the family Sparidae within the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Spariformes Spariformes is an order of ray-finned fishes consisting of six families within the series Percomorpha. Taxonomy Spariformes was first used as a taxonomic term in 1860 by the Dutch physician, herpetologist and ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker. Trad ...

by the 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...

''. Some authorities classify this genus in the subfamily Pagellinae, but the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognise subfamilies within the Sparidae.

Etymology

The common pandora has the specific name ''erythrinus'' which means "red", a reference to the pinkish colour of this fish.

Description

The common pandora has an oval, compressed body with a straight dorsal profile to the head. The eye has a diameter that is clearly shorter than the length of the snout. The scales on the head extend forward to the level of the front edge of the eyes. The cheeks are scaled while the preoperculum is naked. The fleshy lipped mouth is low and slightly oblique and there are pointed teeth in the front of the jaws while the teeth in the rear of the jaws are molar-like with a band of numerous comb-like teeth inside them. The upper jaw has 2 or 3, sometimes 4, rows of molars while the lower jaws have 2, infrequently 3 rows. The

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

is supported by 12 spines and 10 or 11 soft rays while the

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

contains 3 spines and 8 or 9 soft rays. The overall colour is bright pink with a scattering of small blue spots on the upper flanks. The upper margin of the

gill cover The operculum is a series of bones found in bony fish and Chimaera, chimaeras that serves as a facial support structure and a protective covering for the gills; it is also used for respiration and feeding. Anatomy The opercular series contain ...

is carmine and there is a reddish spot on the base of the

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

. There is sometimes a dark red mark at the rear end of the dorsal fin. The common pandora has a maximum published

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish measured f ...

of , although is more typical, and a maximum published weight of .

Distribution and habitat

The common pandora has a wide range along the eastern shores of the Atlantic Ocean, from the coast of West Africa from Guinea Bissau north to the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...

including Cape Verde,

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

and the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, throughout the Mediterranean Sea and into the western

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

and extends northward in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

as far as Norway. In terms of genetic diversity, there appears to be a high level of connectivity from the Atlantic through the Mediterranean. This

demersal fish Demersal fish, also known as groundfish, live and feed on or near the bottom of seas or lakes (the demersal zone).Walrond Carl . "Coastal fish - Fish of the open sea floor"Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2 March 2009 They oc ...

occurs at depths down to , although it is typically found no deeper than , over sand, mud, rock and gravel substrates. Young fish are found farther inshore than the adults.

Biology

The common pandora is a protogynous hermaphroditism in which the females change sex to become males when they reach lengths between . This sex change typically when they are 3–4 years old, however, this is not always true as small males and even large females are often recorded. The spawning season for this species runs from April to September, peaking in May and June. However, the peak spawning period varies from region to region. A study in the central

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

found that the prey of common pandora came from seven major groups, these were decapod crustaceans, bivavlves,

polychaete Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine Annelid, annelid worms, common name, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called c ...

krill Krill ''(Euphausiids)'' (: krill) are small and exclusively marine crustaceans of the order (biology), order Euphausiacea, found in all of the world's oceans. The name "krill" comes from the Norwegian language, Norwegian word ', meaning "small ...

bony fish Osteichthyes ( ; ), also known as osteichthyans or commonly referred to as the bony fish, is a Biodiversity, diverse clade of vertebrate animals that have endoskeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Chondricht ...

es, mysids and

cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan Taxonomic rank, class Cephalopoda (Greek language, Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral symm ...

s. The most important prey found in the stomachs were decapods, particularly in medium-sized specimens while both decapods and bony fishes were the dominant prey in larger fish with a total length in excess of while the smallest fishes, with total lengths between ate mainly polychaetes. Overall the most frequent prey were the shrimps '' Alpheus dentipes'' and '' Processa canaliculata'' and the polychaete worm '' Aphrodite aculata''. As most fishes, the common pandora harbours a variety of

parasites Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The en ...

; for example, the

nematode The nematodes ( or ; ; ), roundworms or eelworms constitute the phylum Nematoda. Species in the phylum inhabit a broad range of environments. Most species are free-living, feeding on microorganisms, but many are parasitic. Parasitic worms (h ...

'' Philometra filiformis'' is a parasite of the

ovary The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/ oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are end ...

of this fish.

Fisheries

The common pandora is an important target species for fisheries in the Mediterranean and Atlantic and there are indications that the stocks are being overfished in a number of areas of the Mediterranean. In Italy this species is one of the most important species of Sparid landed but the total landing has declined from in 2004 to in 2010. The EU has set a minimum size limit for this species being landed of a total length of . This fish is caught using

fish trap A fish trap is a animal trapping, trap used for fishing, catching fish and other aquatic animals of value. Fish traps include fishing weirs, lobster trap, cage traps, fish wheels and some fishing net rigs such as fyke nets. The use of traps ar ...

s in the Canary Islands as well as bottom trawls, beach seines, line gears, trammel nets and gill nets. The fish landed are found in markets throughout the Mediterranean as the fish is highly valued, and is sold fresh or preserved as smoked fish, frozen fish and dried and salted fish, as well as being used to make fish meal and

fish oil Fish oil is oil derived from the tissues of oily fish. Fish oils contain the omega−3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), precursors of certain eicosanoids that are known to reduce inflammation in the bod ...

. It is also an important quarry for recreational anglers.

References

* *

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1156691 Pagellus Fish of the East Atlantic Fish of the North Sea Fish of the Mediterranean Sea Marine fish of Europe Marine fish of North Africa Fish described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus