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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.

Common dentex
Dentex dentex
Συναγρίδα

Sustainability Status

Highly exploited

REPORT IT
Help us protect our seas by reporting illegal or undersized fish that you see in markets, restaurants or fishing boats
Fishstocks – Declining due to overexploitation
Think before you eat – This species faces increasing pressures and should only be consumed responsibly

Legal

Minimum Size

–

Prohibited Consumption Period

–

Sustainable

Minimum Size

35 cm

Avoid Consumption Period

March – May

Advice for Consumption

Think before consuming this species.

Greek legislation does not establish legal minimum size and no closed season, leaving juvenile and spawning fish completely unprotected. Respect minimum sustainable size limits and do not consume during its breeding season.

Choose sustainable seafood!

Archipelagos Tips

Select larger-sized fish and check that it has no spearfishing marks.

This species is widely supplied to the market illegally through spearfishing, as spearfishing is permitted only for personal use and fish caught in this way cannot be sold commercially.

When purchasing or ordering this species, ask to see the whole fish and check for signs of spearfishing, such as entry marks on the body or the top of the head. Choose fish caught by small-scale fisheries, and whenever possible, select larger-sized fish.

Common names

FR

Denté

it

Dentice

es

Dentón

tr

Sinagrit balığı

pt

Pargo-capatão

nl

Tandbrasem

de

Zahnbrasse

toxicity

This species is safe to consume.

iucn info

Vulnerable (VU)

Description

Steep head profile and big lips. Body oval and compressed, sometimes with bluespots on the upper back. Canine teeth, with 4 to 6 anterior teeth very developed in each jaw. Juveniles are grey, becoming pinkish at maturity.

It looks like Dentex gibbosus (Feather Swallowtail), closely related to the common dentex and can be difficult to distinguish, especially when young. Dentex gibbosus (Pink Dentex) are also found in the Mediterranean and can be difficult to distinguish from Dentex dentex, especially in smaller sizes. Pink dentex tend to have a more reddish or pinkish hue, particularly in the fin.

Did you know?

The colour of the common dentex is affected by age, they gradually become pink!

Ecological Aspects

Diet

Hyperbenthivorous/piscivorous.
Feed on fish, mollusks and cephalopods.

habitat

Inhabit hard bottoms (rock or rubble) down to 200 m depth.
Usually found in shallow water less than 50 m deep.

Max size & depth range

Max length: 100 cm
Max weight: 14.3 kg
Depth range: 0-200 m

breeding & Growth

Gonochoric, but some specimens are hermaphroditic.
Species of separated sexes (although some individuals may be hermaphrodite in young stages). In the Mediterranean, reproduction takes place between March to May, in areas near the coast.
Growth rate: Slow (k = 0.1 yr⁻¹).

Longevity & presence

Lifespan: 15-26 years
Max reported age: 36 years
Distribution: British Isles, Spain, North Africa and in the Mediterranean.

appearance changes

They undergo significant morphological and color changes as they age, with juveniles being silver-grey and adults developing a wine-pink hue and a prominent frontal hunch in older males.

Reproductive Cycle

Females release approximately 32,000 to 393,000 eggs per kilogram of their total body weight over the course of the whole season.
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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