Author: Fries, 1837
Pterycombus brama Fries, 1837
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Pterycombus brama Fries, 1837 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: small- to medium-sized bramid fishes Dorsal fin originating over head, behind eye, fan-like and folding into a groove formed by enlarged scales. Finrays all of about same diameter, graduating in length with no lobes to fin; fin scaleless. Anal fin similar, originating under end of pectoral fin base and almost same length as dorsal. Dorsal profile of head between eyes moderately rounded. Head moderately compressed, lower edges of mandible not in contact. Dorsal finrays 48-53; anal finrays 40-43; pectoral finrays 20-23. Branchiostegal rays 7. Vertebrae 48-51. Gillrakers I + I + 5-7. Prominent axillary scale at base of pelvics. Scales with small persistent spines. No keel on caudal peduncle, scales there graduating in size to those on caudal fin. Lateral line present in juveniles but absent in adults. Colour: body silvery over a black background, dorsal and anal fins black anteriorly fading to almost colourless posteriorly. Pectoral faintly pigmented, pelvics and caudal fin dark except for a light area on the trailing edge of the caudal. Size: to 40 cm SL.
Habitat: offshore, pelagic in warm waters. Behaviour: seasonal migrant. Food: no data. Reproduction: spawning apparently takes place year-round near the edge of the continental shelf off east Florida, but young most abundant in Gulf Stream during February.
Distribution: from middle Norway southwards. Absent from the Mediterranean. Young fish common in western North Atlantic.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Mead, 1972.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.