Pagrus pagrus
Red Porgy
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Sparidae (Porgies)
Pagrus
Pagrus pagrus (Red Porgy)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Shallow suborbital space and small spots on body. Dorsal profile of head is strongly convex. Posterior naris is oblong and larger than anterior naris. Anterior two teeth in upper jaw and four teeth in lower jaw are caninelike. Teeth on sides of jaws are molariform and arranged in two rows. Gill rakers on first arch are short and number 6 or 7 on upper limb and 9 or 10 on lower limb. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 31%–34%, snout length 12%–13%, eye diameter 9%–10%, suborbital depth 10%–12%, pectoral fin length 33%–35%, length of longest dorsal fin spine 11%–14%, body depth 39%–40%, caudal peduncle depth about 9%. Pectoral fin has 15 or 16 rays, dorsal fin is slightly notched and has 12 or 13 spines and 9 to 11 rays, and anal fin has 7 or 8 rays. Lateral line scales number 51 to 59.
Color is silvery red, with very small blue or yellow spots. Pectoral, dorsal, and caudal fins are pink.
Distribution
In the western Atlantic it occurs between 10 and 80 m from New York to Argentina, including the entire Gulf of Mexico.
Habitat Associations
Associated with rocky and hard sand bottoms, in tropical to warm temperate seas at depths between 10 and 80 m.
Rocky and hard sand bottoms
Biology
Maximum known size is 910 mm TL.
Found over rock, rubble, or sand bottoms (young frequently found on seagrass beds and the continental shelf (Ref. 47377)) down to about 250 m depth, often above 150 m. In southwest Brazil found in 160 m depth (Ref. 47377). Feeds on crustaceans, fishes, and mollusks (Ref. 3688). Its toxic nature is uncertain (Ref. 4690). Marketed fresh and frozen (Ref. 9987). Reported weights of caught individuals were between 9 to 17 kgs (9-10 off the west coast of Greece) (Hans Bollnert, hassebollnert@yahoo.gr, pers.comm. 12/09). It is parasitised by the monogeneans Anoplodiscus longivaginatus and Anoplodiscus richiardii (species inquirenda) on the fins and body surface (Ref. 124057).
Reproductive mode: protogyny; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Protogynous hermaphrodite species. First sexual maturity occurs at 3 years of age (about 24 cm), first behaving as females and then as males. Spawning happens at 1 5-19° and it tends to be in spring,
depending on the habitat (in the Canary Islands it can start in January). Also Ref. 28504, 41163.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2009-08-17. Resilience: Medium (K=0.13-0.27; tmax=11; tm=0.9-3.0).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish; aquaculture: commercial; aquarium: public aquariums.
References
Manooch et al. 1976
Hoese and Moore 1977, 1998
Manooch and Hassler 1978
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Cervigón 1993a,b
Carpenter 2002b
Bauchot, M.-L. and J.-C. Hureau (1990) Sparidae. p. 790-812. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2.
Lieske, E. and R. Myers (1994) Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 p.
Pajuelo, J.G. and J.M. Lorenzo (1996) Life history of the red porgy Pagrus pagrus (Teleostei: Sparidae) off the Canary Islands, central east Atlantic. Fish. Res. 28(2):163-177.
Papaconstantinou, C. and E. Caragitsou (1989) Feeding interactions between two sympatric species Pagrus pagrus and Phycis phycis around Kastellorizo Island (Dodecanese, Greece). Fish. Res. 7(4):329-342.
Carpenter, K.E. and N. De Angelis (eds.) (2016) The living marine resources of the Eastern Central Atlantic. Vol. 4: Bony fishes part 2 (Perciformes to Tetradontiformes) and sea turtles. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes, Rome, FAO. pp. 2343-3124.
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