3 from Argentina (193-231 mm SL), FSFL EL 768; EM 231, 302.
Description:
D ]U, 10 A V, 8; P1 15-16; P2 T, 5; GR 6-7+9-11; LLS 53-57.
HL 31.3-33.3% of SL; ED 7.3-8.2; BD 40.5-42.4; SN 13.4-14.7; IO 8.8-9.6; UL 12.4-12.9; CP 9.6-9.9; P1L 34.1-36.7; P2L 18.8-23.8.
Body oval, head large, its anterodorsal profile steep, especially in young specimens. Body low compared with other sparids. Eye moderately large, placed near dorsal profile of head; eye diameter slightly less than 2 times in preorbital length; slightly larger than suborbital width. Interorbital width wide. Gill-rakers long, little flattened. Jaws bearing 4 to 6 pointed and curved teeth (canines) anteriorly, followed by conical teeth and then by molars (rounded teeth). Scales large, weak ctenoid. Tip of pectoral fin reaching to 2nd spine of anal fin. Pelvic fin hardly reaching to anus. Third spine longer than 2nd spine in dorsal fin.
Distribution:
Common in the Mediterranean. In the eastern Atlantic coasts it is found from the British Isles to Senegal, rare from Spanish coast nothward. In the western Atlantic coasts it is found from south coasts of U. S. A. to Brazil and northern part of Argentina. In Argentina, it is distributed from La Plata River to Mar del Plata.
Remarks:
This species differs from other Pagrus by 5 1/2 number of transverse rows of scales under the midpart of first dorsal fin. Sometimes Pagrus vulgaris has been used, but we follow Akazaki (1962). Body length is usually from 20 cm to 50 cm and the maximum length is 75 cm (Quignard, 1973). Lives over gravel bottoms, in the vicinity of seaweeds and beds of higher aquatic plants and around rocks, down to depths of about 60 m. Feeds on fishes, crabs and shrimps. Large individuals take also cephalopods and other molluscs in the case of the Mediterranean population (Quignard, 1973).