Atlantic goliath grouper
Epinephelus itajara
Comber
Serranus cabrilla
About
The comber is a small, stocky sea bass with a big head and a strong jaw. It grows to about 40 cm, though most are closer to 25 cm.
Also known as: gaper, garrupa, learned rockfich, channos, painted comber, rockcod
- Length
- 25 cm · max 40 cm
- Depth
- up to 500 m
How to tell it apart
Several small sea basses share this bulky, big-headed shape. The comber is told apart by the pale stripe running along its body, cutting through the darker crossbands rather than lying between them.
Appearance
The body is light to dark brown, sometimes a deep reddish brown, and crossed by 7 to 9 darker bands along the flanks. A pale white or yellowish stripe runs the length of the body, breaking up these bands, and a few yellow or orange lines mark the sides of the head. The first of its two dorsal fins is usually folded flat against the back while the fish swims.
Habitat
The comber lives over the continental shelf and upper slope, on rocky ground, in Posidonia seagrass beds, and over sand and mud, from shallow water down to 500 m. It ranges through the eastern Atlantic from southern England to Angola, and through the Mediterranean and Black Seas.
Did you know?
Every comber has both ovaries and testes, and some have even fertilised their own eggs when no mate was nearby.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
