Dicentrarchus labrax, European seabass : fisheries, aquaculture, gamefish
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Dicentrarchus labrax (Linnaeus, 1758)

European seabass
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Dicentrarchus labrax   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Dicentrarchus labrax (European seabass)
Dicentrarchus labrax
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France country information

Common names: Bar, Bar commun, Bar franc
Occurrence: native
Salinity: freshwater
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: minor commercial | Ref: FAO, 1994
Aquaculture: commercial | Ref: FAO Fishery Information, Data and Statistics Service, 1993
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: live export: yes;
Comments: Known along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coast (Ref. 30578); including Mont Saint-Michel Bay (Ref. 38302) and Gironde estuary (Ref. 51442). Also Ref. 3397, 38302.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/fr.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Béarez, P., P. Pruvost, É. Feunteun, S. Iglésias, P. Francour, R. Causse, J. De Mazières, S. Tercerie and N. Bailly, 2017
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Bar européen, Lubina, Bass, ... more

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Eupercaria/misc (Various families in series Eupercaria) > Moronidae (Temperate basses)
Etymology: Dicentrarchus: Greek, di = two + Greek, kentron = sting + Greek, archos = anus (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Linnaeus.

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

Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; oceanodromous; depth range 10 - 100 m (Ref. 9987). Subtropical; 8°C - 24°C (Ref. 4944); 72°N - 11°N, 19°W - 42°E (Ref. 54221)

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

Eastern Atlantic: Norway to Morocco, the Canary Islands and Senegal. Also known from the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Absent from White, Barents, Baltic and Caspian Seas (Ref. 59043).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 36.1, range 23 - 46 cm
Max length : 103 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); common length : 50.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 6916); max. published weight: 12.0 kg (Ref. 1468); max. reported age: 30 years (Ref. 59043)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 8 - 10; Dorsal soft rays (total): 12 - 13; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 10 - 12. Diagnosis: head with cycloid scales above; mouth moderately protractile (Ref. 231). Vomerine teeth only anteriorly (Ref. 231), in a crescentic band (Ref. 231, 57391). Scales on interorbital space cycloid (Ref. 57391). Posterior edge of opercle finely serrated, lower edge with strong forward- directed denticles (Ref. 231). 2 flat opercular spines (Ref. 231, 57391). Young with some dark spots on upper part of body (Ref. 231).
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults manifest demersal behavior, inhabit coastal waters down to about 100 m depth but more common in shallow waters (Ref. 54221, 57391). Found in the littoral zone on various kinds of bottoms on estuaries, lagoons and occasionally rivers. They enter coastal waters and river mouths in summer, but migrate offshore in colder weather and occur in deep water during winter in the northern range. Young fish form school, but adults appear to be less gregarious (Ref. 9987). Feed chiefly on shrimps and mollusks, also on fishes (Ref. 5990). Juveniles feed on invertebrates, taking increasingly more fish with age. Adults piscivorous . (Ref. 59043). Spawn in batches (Ref. 51846). Spawning takes place in the spring near the British Isles, and earlier in its southern range. Eggs are pelagic (Ref. 35388). Marketed fresh or smoked (Ref. 9987). Highly sought by sport fishermen (Ref. 30578).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Spawn in groups. Eggs are pelagic. In the Mediterranean, first sexual maturity occurs generally between 2 and 4 years of age while in the Atlantic sexual maturity happens a little later (males between 4-7 years and females between 5-8 years). Spawning happens just once a year and it tends to be in winter, although in southern areas it can occur in spring. Eggs have 1-2 fat drops that fuse about 12 hours after laying. Embryo development lasts about three days at 13-14°C and larval development about 40 days at 19°C. Egg size 1.1-1.5 mm, larval length at hatching 3 mm.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Heemstra, Phillip C. | Collaborators

Smith, C.L., 1990. Moronidae. p. 692-694. 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. 6916)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)

  Near Threatened (NT) (A2bcde); Date assessed: 03 March 2022

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Aquaculture systems: production, species profile; Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
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BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
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Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
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Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
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Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
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Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
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Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
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References
References

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Identification keys | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Aquaculture systems: production, species profile; Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | OsteoBase: skull, spine | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 7.3 - 19.5, mean 10.7 °C (based on 788 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.7656   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00933 (0.00780 - 0.01117), b=3.02 (2.97 - 3.07), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.5   ±0.50 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 7.8 (5.0 - 11.0) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 33 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.06-0.33; tm=2-8; tmax=30; Fec=230,000).
Prior r = 0.37, 95% CL = 0.25 - 0.56, Based on 10 full stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (66 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate to high vulnerability (47 of 100). 🛈
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 37.1 [4.5, 189.2] mg/100g; Iron = 0.869 [0.355, 2.011] mg/100g; Protein = 20.2 [19.3, 21.1] %; Omega3 = 0.3 [0.2, 0.5] g/100g; Selenium = 14.6 [7.0, 32.5] μg/100g; VitaminA = 7.01 [2.63, 20.46] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.519 [0.256, 1.128] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.