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Sarpa salpa (Linnaeus, 1758)

Salema
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Sarpa salpa   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Sarpa salpa (Salema)
Sarpa salpa
Picture by Patzner, R.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Eupercaria/misc (Various families in series Eupercaria) > Sparidae (Porgies)
Etymology: Sarpa: Spanish, sarpo, sapo = toad; a toad-fish (1753) (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Linnaeus.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; benthopelagic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 5 - 70 m (Ref. 3688). Subtropical; 45°N - 40°S, 26°W - 36°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Atlantic: Bay of Biscay and Strait of Gibraltar to Sierra Leone, including Madeira, the Canary Islands, and Cape Verde; Congo to South Africa. Also present in the Mediterranean.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 16.5  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 51.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3397); common length : 30.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4781)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 11 - 12; Dorsal soft rays (total): 14 - 17; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 13 - 15. Black spot at the pectoral fin base. Body relatively slender with 10 golden longitudinal stripes (Ref. 35388).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found over rocky substrates and sandy area with algal growth. Gregarious, sometimes forming sizeable schools. Young mainly carnivorous on crustaceans, adults almost exclusively herbivorous (Ref. 4781), feed on seaweeds (Ref. 36731). Protandric hermaphrodite (Ref. 4781). Tasty when fresh, but easily softens and is not much esteemed (Ref. 3198).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

A monandric species (Ref. 55367). Sex change occurs at 25.0 cm TL and 3.75 years of age (Ref. 55367). Conflicting descriptions of the reproductive style of this species have been reported, including possible gonochorism (Ref. 103751). Also Ref. 28504.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Bauchot, M.-L. and J.-C. Hureau, 1990. Sparidae. p. 790-812. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 3688)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 17 August 2009

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes; bait: occasionally
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Trophic ecology
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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 15.3 - 24, mean 18.8 °C (based on 232 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 1.0000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01230 (0.01109 - 0.01364), b=3.04 (3.01 - 3.07), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.0   ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tmax=15; tm=2; K=0.20-.027;).
Prior r = 0.30, 95% CL = 0.20 - 0.45, Based on 4 data-limited stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (41 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Low to moderate vulnerability (32 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 64 [31, 129] mg/100g; Iron = 0.921 [0.492, 1.748] mg/100g; Protein = 19 [17, 21] %; Omega3 = 0.253 [0.129, 0.524] g/100g; Selenium = 28.6 [13.5, 56.9] μg/100g; VitaminA = 12.5 [3.3, 38.3] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.27 [0.88, 1.85] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.