• Skip to main content
  • Français
Press
  • Home
  • Institute
    • Mediterranean species
      Annular seabream
      Axinella sponge
      Black scorpionfish
      Black seabream
      Black sea cucumber
      Black sea urchin
      Blacktailed wrasse
      Blotched picarel
      • About
      • › In brief
      • › Global advocacy
      • › 50+ years of history
      • The Team
      • › Organisation
      • The Aquarium
      • › About the aquarium
      • › Practical information
      • › Mediterranean species
      • › Mediterranean biotopes
      • A site in nature
      • › Les Embiez island
      • The Association
      • › Board of directors
      • › Honorary committee
      • › Become a member
  • Research
    • Research Programmes
      LIFE Pinnarca
      MaCoBios
      Posidonia oceanica seagrass m [...]
      New Innovative Feed for Susta [...]
      Environmental DNA (eDNA)
      Ich.T.O.
      Podestat
      Integrated multi-trophic aqua [...]
      • › Research programmes
      • › Research Center
      • › Scientific Communication
      • › International Cooperation
      • › Take OFF, Take Ocean For Future
  • Outreach
    • Environmental issues
      Climate
      Biodiversity
      Nature-based solutions
      Living resources
      Governance
      The Mediterranean, a model ocean
      • › Popular science
      • › Newsletter
      • › Media Library
      • › Press review
      • › Environmental issues
 › Abécédaire › Gilt-head seabream
Mediterranean species :

Gilt-head seabream

A large, elegant fish that can be as big as 70cm!
Did you know ?
Its big lips conceal powerful jaws that can crush the shells of mussels and crustaceans.

The gilt-head seabream has a silvery oblong body with a large black mark at the operculum with red beneath it, and a golden stripe between the eyes. Seen singly or in small schools, it can be as long as 70cm. It starts life as a male and becomes female at 2 to 3 years old. This is called protandric hermaphroditism. It is found in Posidonia seagrass meadows, coastal lagoons and on sandy bottoms down to depths of 150m. The juveniles prefer to live in estuaries and shallow coastal waters. Gilt-head seabream are found all over the Mediterranean but are rarer in the eastern part of the Black Sea. In the Atlantic, they are found from the British Isles to Cabo Verde. They have been farmed since the 1970s.

Tweet
Share
Share
0 Shares

Phylum: Vertebrates
Class: Osteichthyes
Order: Perciformes
Family: Sparidae
Scientific name: Sparus aurata

French: Daurade or Dorade
Spanish: Pargo dorado
Italian: Orata
German: Goldbrass

Gorgon's head Prev
False coral Next
Institut océanographique Paul Ricard
Île des Embiez - 83140 Six-Fours-les-Plages
Tél. +33 (0)4 94 34 02 49
  • › Partners
  • › Press
  • › Sitemap
  • › Terms & Conditions
  • › Privacy Policy
  • › Cookies Policy
  • › Credits