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A Virtual Museum on the State's Fish Biodiversity

Argyrozona argyrozona

Carpenter Seabream
Collection Details

Specimens

Photos

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Records

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes) Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri) Sparidae (Porgies) Argyrozona Argyrozona argyrozona (Carpenter Seabream)

Description

This species account was compiled from FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.) and processed using AI-assisted text extraction. It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting. When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page. Learn more about our species accounts.

Characters

Body shape: fusiform / normal.

Distribution

Western Indian Ocean: Natal to Table Bay in South Africa.

Habitat Associations

Marine. benthopelagic. depth range 20-200 m.

Biology

An important food fish. Adults feed mainly on fish, crustaceans and cephalopods (Ref. 4350). Spawn mainly during summer (Ref. 4350). Sometimes undertake large-scale migrations (Ref. 4350).
Max length: 90.0 cm TL; common length: 60.0 cm TL; max weight: 3500 g; max age: 27 years.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external.
IUCN Red List Status: Near Threatened (NT), assessed 2009-12-02. Resilience: Low (tm=5-6; tmax=27; K=0.07-0.08; Fec=11,000-1 million).

Commercial or Environmental Importance

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish.

References

Smith, J.L.B. and M.M. Smith (1986) Sparidae. p. 580-594. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Bauchot, M.-L. and M.M. Smith (1984) Sparidae. In W. Fischer and G. Bianchi (eds.) FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Western Indian Ocean (Fishing Area 51). volume 4. [var. pag.] FAO, Rome.
de Villiers Nepgen, C.S. (1977) The biology of the hottentot Pachymetopon blochii (Val.) and the silverfish Argyrozona argyrozona (Val.) along the Cape south-west coast. Invest. Rep. Div. Sea Fish. S. Afr. (105):1-35.

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