Annular Seabream
Diplodus annularis
Salema Porgy
Sarpa salpa
About
The salema porgy is a slender, silvery fish marked with rows of golden stripes. It swims in loose schools over rocky and sandy ground, and is also known by the strange nickname 'dreamfish'.
Also known as: cow bream, bamboo-fish, striped karanteen
- Depth
- up to 70 m
How to tell it apart
Several other bream species share a similar silvery, gold-striped body. Check the base of the pectoral fin for a small black spot, a fixed mark that helps confirm a salema porgy.
Appearance
The body is silvery and slender, with an oval outline. Between eight and ten golden lines run along each side from head to tail. There is a small black spot at the base of the pectoral fin, the fin just behind the gills.
Habitat
Salema porgy live along the eastern Atlantic coast and throughout the Mediterranean, mostly over rocky ground and sandy areas with algae growth. They are usually found from near the surface down to about 70 m.
Behaviour
This is a gregarious fish, often seen in sizeable schools rather than alone.
Diet
Young salema porgy mainly eat small crustaceans. As they grow, they switch to an almost entirely plant-based diet, grazing on seagrass and algae.
Did you know?
Salema porgy is nicknamed the 'dreamfish' because eating it can, in rare cases, cause vivid, unpleasant hallucinations. This is thought to come from toxins the fish picks up through its diet at certain times of year.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
