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[Bream Phylum: Chordata] [Class: Actinopterygii] [Order: Spariformes] [Family: Sparidae (ray-finned)]
By and large, the marine species of sea bream refers to several families of ray-finned fishes (called Sparidea) and porgies (high-backed snappers).
This section contains interesting facts about 155 different species of seabreams, including what they eat, where to find them, and which ones are edible.
Worldwide, sea breams tend to inhabit tropical and temperate coastal waters.
They are a demersal fish species, meaning they live near the bottom of seas and oceans.
Seabreams are mostly marine fishes. But, the species that live in brack water will also enter freshwater environments (e.g. rivers, estuaries).
Many of the sea breams fished for food are found in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean coastlines.
Around the world, commercial fisheries target most "sparid" species for the fish food industry. As a result, the common dentex and gilt-head bream are highly sought after by restaurants, and in home cookery.
This predatory species feeds most on benthic invertebrates, such as clams, crustaceans, and worms. Excluding the largest species, sea breams tend to congregate in schools, especially juveniles.
For the most part, the body of almost all breams is oblong and compressed. They have a large head, with a steep dorsal profile.
They have scales on the operculum and the cheeks. The protruding mouth has an oblique tendency and they have a short upper jaw.
Here's the thing:
The teeth are conical or flattened, but there are no teeth on the roof of the mouth. One large dorsal fin supports up to 13 spines and up to 17 soft rays.
The body colouring of sea breams varies... a lot! Most of the larger species tend to have pink, red, or grey hues, often with tints of silver and dark spots or stripes.
Pro Tip: Many ray-finned fishes, including some Sparidae, display hermaphroditic behaviour. In other words, the species can change sex as they develop and mature into adulthood.
So, what kind of fish is seabream species Diplodus fasciatus? It is commonly called the banded seabream fish and it is endemic in the temperate coastal waters near Cape Verde island in West Africa.
The scientific name 'fasciatus' (meaning banded) refers to a series of dark vertical bands (usually 6) that almost completely encircle its silver, oval shaped body.
But...
It's also common for the banded seabream to exhibit a dusky coloured snout and tones of faint yellow on the fins, especially when they're young.
Sea bream fish can be much bigger in size, but adult Diplodus fasciatus rarely grow longer than thirty (30) centimetres (12 inches).
These mid-level predators are found schooling around rocky reefs and sand areas close to reef formations, generally in coastal waters ranging from 30 to 100 metres deep.
Most types of bream fish are diurnal (active during the day), omnivorous grazers that feed on filamentous algae, marine crustaceans, and different kinds of benthic invertebrates.
Pro Tip: Scuba divers may find banded seabream approachable and rather curious, and they often mix with other reef fish, such as strepies.
One species of sea breams is overlooked more than others. It is a small marine ray-finned fish with several common names, including the bogue and the goldline.
This segment contains some little known facts about the Boops boops (Sparidae), including where they live, what they eat, and how they reproduce.
The two-banded seabream is another Mediterranean sea bream that lives near rocky reefs and seagrass meadows at depths approaching 160 metres.
They can be identified by two distinctive black vertical bands, a silver coloured body, and subtle hues of gold.
One of the dark rings is located behind the head (nape) and the other covers the caudal peduncle near the base of the tail.
Diplodus vulgaris is a saltwater bream fish found throughout most of the eastern Atlantic Ocean, even the Bay of Biscay and down to South Africa.
They are also common in the Canary Islands, Madeira, the Channel Islands, and many of the Mediterranean countries.
The most important prey for these carnivores are small crustaceans, saltwater mollusks, and segmented worms.
Even so, various studies suggest they will also eat brittle stars, zooplanktonic copepods, sea urchins, and amphipods.
Two-banded sea breams frequently swim around in pairs or small groups, especially when they're foraging for food with other bream species, such as the sheephead bream.
Most sea breams have a high commercial value as a food fish. But, the life history of the marine ray-finned dentex fish has endangered the species.
This section contains facts and information about the common dentex (Dentex dentex), including where to find this salt water predator, what they eat, and why it's classified as Vulnerable.
Mediterranean sea bream
Can live in freshwater and saltwater estuaries.
Important: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is a comprehensive source of information about the global conservation status of animals, fungi, and plants. In 2009 they listed the blackspot seabream (Pagellus bogaraveo) as "Near Threatened" with a "Decreasing" population trend.
Note: The short video [3:13 minutes] presented by 'Abang Aram' contains fun and interesting facts about different species of sea bream.