Author: (Risso, 1810)
Symphodus (Crenilabrus) roissali (Risso, 1810)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Symphodus (Crenilabrus) roissali (Risso, 1810) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: head length equal to or shorter than body depth. Snout shorter than post-orbital. Teeth (4-7/6-10). A few (5-9) large cephalic pores on snout. Lips with 5-7 folds. Dorsal finrays XIV-XVI + 8-10; anal finrays III + 8-10. Operculum with a scaleless area on middle part. Scales along lateral line 30-35, on temporo-occipital surface 2-4; rows of scales above lateral line 3.5, on the inter-operculum 1-2 (3) (4-10 scales), on cheek 3-4, behind eye 1. Gillrakers 12-15. Vertebrae 29-32. Colour: sexual dimorphism. Both sexes with opercular scaleless area darker (brown, brown-reddish, blackish), not always evident as colours similar to those of blotches and stripes of head. A black spot at base of caudal fin (sometimes absent). Numerous spots on body and head; these marks form 3-5 more or less distinct transversal stril Dorsal fin with 5 darker spots (sometimes absent or hard to see. Females and juveniles: brown or brown-greenish. Urogenital papilla black in adult females. Males: reddish-brown or green, marked
green, brown or yellowish. Lips habitually pink orange. Size: to 17 SL, usually 8-12 cm.
Habitat: littoral, mainly near rocks, also in eel-grass beds (1-30 m) summer often close to the shore (0.50-1.50 m) among small rocks. Behaviour: mainly solitary. Nest of seaweed built by male (one or more females). Food: molluscs, bivalves, gastropods, shrimps, sea-urchins and hydroids. Reproduction: north-western Mediterranean in April-July. Sexually mature when 1 year old (5-7 cm). Age and growth. to 8 years. Rate of growth faster in males. When 5 years old males measure 13 and females 12 cm.
Distribution: from Bay of Biscay to Gibraltar. Mediterranean, Adria Black Sea.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Sparta, 1930: 3, fig. 1-6 | Vodyanitzki and Kazanova, 1954: 312, fig. 53A-G | Sparta, 1956: 578, fig. 435-438 | Gorbunova, 1959: 174, fig.3 4.
Otoliths (sagitta). Sanz EcheverrÃa, 1937: 39, pl. 2 (fig. 15-17) | Chaine, 1942: 41, pl. 2.