Atlantic goliath grouper
Epinephelus itajara
Painted Comber
Serranus scriba
About
The painted comber is a small, brightly patterned sea bass that spends the day tucked into rocky crevices before coming out to hunt at dusk.
- Depth
- up to 150 m
How to tell it apart
Other small sea basses in the same genus share similar bars and blue lines, but the painted comber alone has a soft, diffuse purplish-blue smudge on the middle of its side.
Appearance
The body is slim and flattened from side to side, with a pointed snout and a large mouth full of sharp teeth. Colour ranges from grey to purplish or reddish, crossed by 5 to 7 dark brown bars along the flanks. The head is patterned with narrow, wavy blue lines and red blotches, and the dorsal, anal, and tail fins carry red dots. The pelvic and pectoral fins are plain pale yellow.
Habitat
This fish lives over rocky bottoms and beds of Posidonia seagrass, as well as muddy or algae-covered ground, at depths from about 5 to 150 m, usually no deeper than 30 m. It shelters alone or in small groups inside rocky caves by day and comes out at dusk to hunt.
Did you know?
Divers use this fish as a clue to find octopus dens: it often waits at the entrance to an octopus's hideout, picking off scraps of shellfish the octopus leaves behind.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
