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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.

Brown meagre
Sciaena umbra
Σκιός

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
Bad choice –Consumption of this species is unsustainable

Legal

Minimum Size

–

Prohibited Consumption Period

–

Sustainable

Minimum Size

35 cm

Avoid Consumption Period

Year round

Advice for Consumption

Heavily overexploited – therefore its consumption is unsustainable.

If you choose to consume this species, always respect the recommended minimum sustainable size and do not consume individuals caught during the reproductive season.

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.

Common names

FR

Corb

it

Corvina

es

Corvallo

tr

Eşkine

pt

Corvina-negra

nl

Zeeraaf

de

Seebarsch

toxicity

This species is safe to consume.

iucn info

Vulnerable (VU)

Description

Has an arched back and flat belly, pelvic and anal fins are edged in whit eat the front, two large yellow dorsal fins and a yellow caudal fin with a black outline.

It looks like Umbrina cirrosa (Shi drum), which has a similar body shape and face composition. The Shi drum also have reddish/orange and less rounded fins.

Did you know?

Like all sciaenidae, the brown meagre can produce sounds to communicate by vibrating its swim bladder!

Ecological Aspects

Diet

Macro/hyperbenthivorous.
Feeds on small fishes and crustaceans.

habitat

Pelagic.
Occurs in shallow coastal waters mainly on rocky and sandy bottoms, often entering estuaries and more active at night. Also inhabits caves and reefs.

Max size & depth range

Max length: 70 cm
Max weight: 4 kg
Depth range: 1-200m

breeding & Growth

The breeding and spawning season typically occurs during the summer months. Along the Mediterranean and Balearic coasts, the season runs from May through August, peaking intensely in May and June. However, some populations in varying water temperatures may spawn as late as October.
Growth rate: Slow (k = 0.19yr⁻¹).

Longevity & presence

Lifespan: 21-31 years
Max reported age: 31 years
Distribution: Southern Bay of Biscay to Mauritania, occasionally southwards to Senegal. Also throughout the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

appearance changes

The Sciaena umbra (Brown meagre) experiences significant appearance changes as it develops in the wild. Juveniles are distinctively brown-orange with dark spots and oversized fins. As they grow to about 10 cm in length, they transition into their adult shape: a greyish-brown body with golden reflections, a highly curved back, and yellow fins with black edges.

Reproductive Cycle

It is a multiple-spawning species that releases hundreds of thousands to millions of eggs over an extended reproductive season. A mature female can produce batches numbering from 50,000 to over 1 million eggs per year, depending on her size and body weight.
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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