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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.

Pompano
Trachinotus ovatus
Μαυρολίτσα

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

–

Prohibited Consumption Period

–

Sustainable

Minimum Size

31 cm

Avoid Consumption Period

July – August

Advice for Consumption

Consumption of this species is currently considered sustainable.

Greek legislation does not establish 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

Liche

it

Leccia stella

es

Palometa blanca

tr

Ciplak

pt

Sereia

nl

Gaffelmakreel

de

Bläuel

toxicity

This species is safe to consume.

iucn info

Least concern (LC)

Description

This is a slighty elongated fish with a narrow body. The background colour of the body is silver. It has a caudal fin which is forked with black margins and a white spot on the upper half of the fin. The dorsal and anal fins are marked with black spots. Along the centre line of the flanks there are three to five black spots.

It looks like Trachinotus blochii (Snubnose pompano), is often confused with Trachinotus ovatus. Scientific publications have shown that Trachinotus blochii has been mistakenly identified as Trachinotus ovatus.

Did you know?

They will gather around fish farms to feed on the food pellets which fall through the mesh at the bottom of the cages!

Ecological Aspects

Diet

Hyperbenthivorous/piscivorous.
Adults feed on small crustaceans, mollusks and fishes.

habitat

Pelagic.
Adults are moderately common in shallow water in areas of surge. Found in clear waters over sand or mud bottoms. Occasionally enters lagoons and river estuaries.

Max size & depth range

Max length: 70 cm
Max weight: 2.8 kg
Depth range: 50-200 m

breeding & Growth

Gonochoric (seperate sexes).
Their breeding season peaks during the summer months (July and August) in the Mediterranean.
Growth rate: Fast (k = 0.49yr⁻¹).

Longevity & presence

Lifespan: 3-5 years
Max reported age: 5 years
Distribution: Bay of Biscay, British and Scandinavian waters to Angola, including the Mediterranean Sea and offshore islands.

appearance changes

Their appearance changes little, though females may develop a visibly swollen abdomen during spawning season.

Reproductive Cycle

Females produce an average of 50,000 eggs per year. They are multiple batch spawners, releasing these eggs over 6 to 20 spawning events per year during their summer to early autumn reproductive season.
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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