Convict Sea Bream
| Convict Sea Bream | ||||||||||||
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Convict sea bream ( Archosargus probatocephalus ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Archosargus probatocephalus | ||||||||||||
| ( Walbaum , 1792) |
The convict sea bream ( Archosargus probatocephalus ), based on the English name "Sheepshead seabream" often also called sheep's head sea bream , is a sea fish from the family of sea bream (Sparidae). The fish was first described by the naturalist Johann Julius Walbaum from Lübeck in 1792.
features
The convict sea bream grows up to 90 cm long and weighs a maximum of 9 kilograms, but the average is only about 20 cm long and weighs up to 2 kilograms. The sides of the body are drawn with 5 to 6 darker, vertical stripes on a silvery background. It feeds primarily on molluscs and shellfish, which it can break open with its hard mouth, which contains several rows of blunt teeth.
habitat
The convict sea bream is common in the western Atlantic from the coast of New Scotland in Canada over the northern Gulf of Mexico to Brazil . It is absent in Bermuda , the Bahamas , the West Indies and is primarily a resident of sea bays and estuaries and lives in both the sea and brackish water . Sometimes the fish also migrate to fresh water.
Use by humans
The convict sea bream is an edible fish and therefore important for commercial inshore fishing. It moves at depths less than 15 meters below the surface of the water. It is mostly caught by sport anglers at ship piers with baits such as crabs and mussels.
geography
A southern borough of Brooklyn in New York with a population of over 120,000 is called Sheepshead Bay .
Web links
- Convict Sea Bream on Fishbase.org (English)
- [1] Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on Sheepshead
- [2] Smithsonian Marine Station on Archosargus probatocephalus