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Fish4Life provides everything you need to enjoy seafood responsibly. Explore information and practical tips for safe and sustainable seafood consumption, and help protect marine life by reporting undersized or illegally traded seafood.

Bogue
Boops boops
Γόπα

Sustainability Status

Currently considered sustainable

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Help us protect our seas by reporting illegal or undersized fish that you see in markets, restaurants or fishing boats
Good choice – Consumption of this species is currently considered sustainable

Legal

Minimum Size

10 cm

Prohibited Consumption Period

–

Sustainable

Minimum Size

14 cm

Avoid Consumption Period

–

Advice for Consumption

Consumption of this species is currently considered sustainable.

Greek legislation sets an unsustainably small legal minimum size and no closed season, leaving juvenile and spawning fish completely unprotected.

Choose responsibly by respecting sustainable size limits and avoiding consumption during the breeding season.
 

Archipelagos Tips

Choosing larger, mature fish helps reduce fishing pressure on juvenile individuals.

Common names

FR

Bogue

it

Boga comune

es

Boga

tr

Kupez balığı

pt

Boga

nl

Bokvis

de

Gelbstrieme

toxicity

This species is safe to consume.

iucn info

Least concern (LC)

Description

Body slender with big eyes, has 3-5 weak golden-brown longitudinal stripes, and a black spot at the pectoral fin base. Fusiform, oval body shape.

It looks like Atherina boyeri (Big-scale sand-smelt), Boops boops has a more rounded, fusiform body shape and a yellow-brown lateral line.

Did you know?

The name boops is from Ancient Greek meaning ‘ox-eyed’!

Ecological Aspects

Diet

Hyperbenthivorous/zooplanktivorous and omnivorous (diatoms, small crustaceans, copepods, polychaets, algae and detritus).

habitat

Demersal.
Found on the shelf or coastal pelagic on various bottoms (sand, mud, rocks and seaweeds).

Max size & depth range

Max length: 40 cm
Max weight: 986 g
Depth range: 0-350 m
 

breeding & Growth

Gonochoric (species with separate sexes), oviparous broadcast spawner with pelagic eggs and larvae.
Spawns in the warmer season (spring-summer in the Mediterranean).
Growth rate decrease significantly after 2-3 years.
Growth rate: Slow-moderate (k = 0.22yr⁻¹).

Longevity & presence

Lifespan: 5-7 years
Max reported age: 11 years
Distribution: Norway to Angola. Found in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

appearance changes

Juveniles are more distinctly striped, adults more uniformly silvery.

Reproductive Cycle

Egg count seasonally in the Aegean Sea is 2,740 to 309,457 eggs per female annually.
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If you’d like to learn more about the work of the Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation, please visit our website: https://archipelago.gr/

Good choice – Consumption of this species is currently considered sustainable

Illegal species – Fishing, selling and consumption of this species is illegal

Fishstocks – Declining due to overexploitation

Think before you eat – This species faces increasing pressures and should only be consumed responsibly

Bad choice – Consumption of this species is unsustainable

Health concerns –
Can accumulate dangerously high levels of toxic substances harmful to health

Alien / Invasive – This species is not from this region and can have a negative impact on the ecosystem and threaten local biodiversity, so it is sustainable to eat

Aquafarms – You will commonly find this species coming from aquafarms