Pagrus

Pagrus Temporal range: Early Eocene to Present[1]
Pagrus pagrus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Spariformes
Family:	Sparidae
Genus:	Pagrus Cuvier, 1816
Type species
Sparus pagrus Linnaeus, 1758[2]
Synonyms[2]
Semapagrus Fowler, 1925

Pagrus is a

Pagrus contains at least six described species:^[6]

• Pagrus africanus (Akazaki, 1962) (Southern common seabream)
• Pagrus auratus (Forster
  , 1801) (Silver seabream or Australasian snapper)
• Pagrus auriga (Valenciennes, 1843) (Redbanded seabream )
• Pagrus caeruleostictus (Valenciennes, 1830) (Bluespotted seabream)
• Pagrus major (Temminck & Schlegel, 1843) (Red seabream )
• Pagrus pagrus (Linnaeus
  , 1758) (Common seabream or red porgy)

Pagrus is tautonymous from Sparus pagrus, the name pagrus comes from a Greek word for seabreams that dates at least to the time of Aristotle.^[8]

Characteristics

Pagrus seabreams are characterised by having oblong, compressed bodies with deep heads which have rounded dorsal profiles. The rear nostril is oblong, the front nostril is a slit. The moderately protrusible mouth is small, horizontal and the end of the maxilla is overlapped by the suborbital bone. There are two rows of teeth in the jaws, the front row is made up of between 6 and 6 sharp,

Pagrus seabreams are found in the Atlantic Ocean, where P. pagrus occurs on both sides of the Ocean and in the Mediterranean, while the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea have two other native species, P. auriga and P. caeruleostictus. P. africanus is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean off West Africa. The remaining two species are found in the Western Pacific Ocean.[6] However, P. major has been introduced into the Mediterranean probably as a result of escapes from aquaculture.^[11] These fishes prefer hard bottoms but may be found in estuaries.^[10]

Biology

Pagrus seabreams are carnivores, using their crushingh molars to feed on molluscs and crustaceans but they have also been found to eat softer bodied prey such as cephalopods and fishes.

Pagrus seabreams are valued as food fishes, as well as being used to produce fish meal and fish oil, and are targeted by fisheries wherever they occur. They are also used in aquaculture in both Japan[14] and the Mediterranean.^[11]

References