Spicara smaris

Author: (Linnaeus, 1758)

Spicara smaris (Linnaeus, 1758)

Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Spicara smaris (Linnaeus, 1758) (updated 2009-06-25)

Diagnosis: an elongate fish. Dorsal finrays XI-XII + 10-12; anal finrays III + 8-10. Vomerine teeth usually absent. Lateral line scales 75 -81. Colour: grey-brown above, silvery below. Size: to 15 cm (females) or 20 cm (males) SL.

Habitat: Posidonia beds and muddy bottoms at about 15-100 m. Food: no data. Reproduction: from February to May.

Distribution: Mediterranean, Black Sea, Portugal to Morocco and the Canaries.

Eggs, larvae and young stages. Zei, 1949a: 917, pl. 1 (fig. 2-3) | Lozano Cabo, 1953: 81 (S. flexuosa is included). See the above comments to the genus.
Otoliths (sagitta). Koken, 1884: 537, pl. 10 (fig. 10) | Pieragnoli, 1918: 36, pl. 2 (fig. 31) | Chaine, 1937: 238, pl. 20. It is not sure if the otoliths described under the name S. alcedo by Sanz Echeverría, 1926: 153, fig. 15; 1930: 176, pl. 1 (fig. 20) | Chaine, 1937: 230, pl. 20, belong to this species.