white seabream

Like other seabreams, the body is compressed and flat. It is light grey with silvery and greenish reflections.

Juveniles and young adults can be distinguished from other seabreams by their nine dark vertical bands. The tail fin is edged in black with a spot at its base. The size ranges from 15 to 30 centimeters. Adult fish have become rare, they could reach over 40 centimeters.

There are seven subspecies of white seabream: D. sargus ascencionis (Valenciennes, 1830), D. sargus cadenati (de la Paz, Bauchot & Daget, 1974), D. sargus capensis (Smith, 1844), D. sargus helenae (Sauvage, 1879), D. sargus kotschyi (Steindachner, 1876), D. sargus lineatus (Valenciennes, 1830) and D. sargus sargus (Linnaeus, 1758).

White seabreams are fast and active fish, generally gregarious. They may use the silvery reflections of their bodies to confuse potential predators.

Juveniles live near the coast, in shallow waters. In the Mediterranean, they use seagrass meadows (Posidonia oceanica) and eelgrass (Zostera marina) as nurseries. Adults frequent rugged bottoms, consisting of rocks, pebbles, and sand. These environments provide hiding places and hunting grounds for these fish situated in the middle of the food chain.

White seabreams are omnivorous, with a diet consisting mainly of mollusks (gastropods, bivalves, chitons). They supplement this diet with crustaceans (crabs, shrimps, amphipods...) and aquatic plants (macrophytes). A territorial fish, displays and fights are frequently observed among individuals.

Most individuals appear to be protandrous: they are born male and then change sex as they grow. But not all follow this rule. Some males retain the ability to change into females only when necessary to rebalance the genders within a population.

Sexual maturity is reached at the age of 2, at a size of about 17 centimeters. Spawning occurs from January to March, sometimes later.