European seabass

European sea bass ( Dicentrarchus labrax )

The European sea bass ( Dicentrarchus labrax ) is a fish of the family of European sea bass ( Moronidae ).

Features

The fish can reach a maximum body length of about 100 centimeters and a weight of about 12 kilograms. They have an elongated body. The back is dark gray, the color is in the sides increasingly brighter, the belly is almost white. The dark side line is clearly visible. The genus name means "two barbed perch ".

Occurrence

The animals are found to Norway in the eastern Atlantic from Morocco. But they also live in the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Most commonly they are found in the waters around the British Isles, particularly in the North Sea. They live in a water depth of 10 meters to 100 meters, swim and hunt but to the knee-deep water. They are found during the summer months and sometimes in brackish water of river mouths. In the cold seasons they swim off the coast in deep water.

Way of life

They are predators and hunt at night various molluscs, crustaceans and fish. Mating takes place from January to March. The larvae hatch from the eggs laid by the females after about three days. Juveniles live in flocks, but with age they lose their sociability.

Economic Importance

In ancient Roman times, the European sea bass was a popular food fish. In the first half of the 1st century BC, he was exposed with little success in freshwater lakes and rivers. From the middle of the 1st century BC, he was one of the most common fish in the coastal brackish water basins. Even today, the European sea bass is again bred in aquaculture. The fish is also known as branzino ( Italian), Robalo ( Portuguese), Lubina ( Spanish) and commun in French as a bar or Loup. In the kitchen language it is called in German-speaking and loup de mer. Its literal translation of " Sea Wolf" but referred to very different fish that can be economically exploited because of their lifestyle not as bycatch but under the commercial names " Kattfisch " or " wolffish " (again, not to be confused with the loach ) reach the market.