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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.

Pink dentex
Dentex gibbosus
Τσαουσάς

Sustainability Status

Highly exploited

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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 – June

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 rose

it

Dentice gibboso

es

Sama de pluma

tr

Antenli balık

pt

Pargo-capelo

nl

Bultige tandbrasem

de

Dickkopf-zahnbrasse

toxicity

This species is safe to consume.

iucn info

Least concern (LC)

Description

Laterally compressed, oval-shaped body. Juveniles have a smoothly convex, distinctive head profile, which develops a prominent hump in older, larger specimens. Characterized by reddish coloration with bluish-silvery reflections, paler bellies, and darker heads. Adults may also exhibit wine-red tinges and black spots, especially on a male’s head. Has canine-like teeth, with the outer row being the most robust and the front teeth being the largest.

It looks like Pagellus erythrinus (Common Pandora), Pagrus pagrus (Red Porgy) all members of the Sparidae family and share several similarities, particularly in their overall body shape and fin structure.

Did you know?

Large adult pink gibbosus can develop a hump on their head!

Ecological Aspects

Diet

It is an opportunistic top predator.
Feeds mainly on crustaceans, fish and cephalopods.

habitat

Occur on the shelf on rocky and rubble bottoms, as well as on sand around rocks. The young are close to shore while the adults occur offshore in the vicinity of the continental slope.

Max size & depth range

Max length: 106 cm
Max weight: 16.4 kg
Depth range: 20-220 m

breeding & Growth

This population exhibits later partial spawning, taking place predominantly in August, September and October.
Growth rate: Slow (k = 0.15yr⁻¹).

Longevity & presence

Life span: 3-8 years
Max reported age: 11 years
Distribution: From Portugal to Angola; also in the Mediterranean and around the Canary and São Tomé-Principe islands.

appearance changes

They undergo physical changes as they age in the wild, most notably developing a large, prominent bump on their head. Their sexuality is complex and varies by region; some populations display protogynous hermaphroditism (they are born female and change sex to male later on), while others show no sex-changing traits.

Reproductive Cycle

It is a highly fertile species. Absolute fecundity ranges from 1.5 million to roughly 4 million eggs per spawning 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