Brown meagre (Sciaena umbra)

Scientific name: Sciaena umbra Linnaeus, 1758

Brown meagre (Sciaena umbra)

The Brown meagre (Sciaena umbra) is a brackish-water fish of the family Sciaenidae.

Biology

Occurs in shallow coastal waters mainly on rocky and sandy bottoms, often entering estuaries and more active at night. Also inhabits caves and reefs. Feeds on small fishes and crustaceans. SCUBA diving observations suggest this to be a very calm fish with remarkable buoyancy control and an ability to move without much apparent effort. Marketed fresh and frozen; in Turkey, otoliths are ground to a powder and used as remedy for urinary tract infections.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Sciaena umbra
Family
Sciaenidae (Drums or croakers)
Order
Perciformes (Perch-like fish)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
70.0
Common length
28.0
Depth range
200 m (656 ft)
Environment
Marine; brackish; demersal; depth range ? - 200 m
Climate
Subtropical
Distribution
Eastern Atlantic: English Channel to Mauritania, occasionally southwards to Senegal. Also throughout the Mediterranean and Black seas. Records from Ghana and Gabon are questionable.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Uses
Fisheries: commercial
Resilience
Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.19; tm=3; tmax=21)

Sources

Taxonomy, distribution and biology data: FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds.), licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

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