Dicentrarchus
{{Short description|Genus of fishes}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Dicentrarchus labrax.jpg
| image_caption = European Seabass (D. labrax)
| taxon = Dicentrarchus
| authority = T. N. Gill, 1860
| type_species = Perca elongata
| type_species_authority = É. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, 1817{{Cof family|family=Moronidae|access-date=27 March 2023}}
| synonyms =
- Labrax G. Cuvier, 1828 (pre-occupied)
}}
Dicentrarchus is a genus of ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Moronidae, the temperate basses. The two species in this genus are found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The species in this genus are economically important food fishes.
Classification
Dicentrarchus was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1860 by the American ichthyologist Theodore Gill with Perca elongata, which had been described in 1817 by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire from the Mediterranean Sea of Egypt,{{Cof genus|genus=Dicentrarchus|access-date=27 March 2023}} designated as its type species. The genus is one of two in the family Moronidae which belongs to the order Moroniformes.{{cite book |title=Fishes of the World |edition=5th |author1=J. S. Nelson |author2=T. C. Grande |author3=M. V. H. Wilson |year=2016 |pages=495–497 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1-118-34233-6 |url=https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ |access-date=2023-03-27 |archive-date=2019-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408194051/https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ |url-status=dead }}
Etymology
Dicentrarchus is a combination of di, “two”, with kentron, “thorn” or “spine”, and archos, “anus”. This is an allusion to the two anal fin spines Gill thought the European seabass had. In fact, both species have three spines in their anal fins and Gill admitted he did not actually examine a specimen.{{cite web | url = https://etyfish.org/eupercaria/ | title = Series Eupercaria (Incertae sedis): Families Callanthidae, Centrogenyidae, Dinopercidae, Emmelichthyidae, Malacanthidae, Monodactylidae, Moronidae, Parascorpididae, Sciaenidae and Sillagidae | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | editor1 = Christopher Scharpf | editor2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = amp | date = 9 March 2023 | access-date = 24 March 2023 | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara | archive-date = 17 February 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220217162719/https://etyfish.org/eupercaria/ | url-status = dead }}
Species
Dicentrarchus currently has two species classified within it:{{FishBase genus | genus = Dicentrarchus| month = February | year = 2023}}
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| 120px | Dicentrarchus labrax (Linnaeus, 1758) | European seabass | eastern Atlantic Ocean (from Norway to Senegal), the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea |
| 120px | Dicentrarchus punctatus (Bloch, 1792) | spotted seabass | coastal eastern Atlantic Ocean from the English Channel to the Canary Islands and Senegal, as well as through the Mediterranean Sea |
Characteristics
Dicentrarchus seabasses have a finely serrated rear margin to the preoperculum with the lower edge having robust, forward pointing denticles. There are two flat sines on the operculum. They have two separated dorsal fins and their caudal fin is moderately forked.{{cite web | url = https://fishes-fnam.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/species/taxon.php?cat=names&id=108385&epi=141 | author = J-C Hureau | work = Fishes of the Northeast Atlantic and the Mediterranean | title = Dicentrarchus | publisher = Naturalis Biodiversity Center}} The largest of these fishes is the European seabass which has a maximum published total length of {{cvt|103|cm}}.
Distribution, habitat and biology
Dicentrarchus seabasses are coastal fishes found in the eastern Atlantic, from Norway south to Senegal, and the Mediterranean. These fishes are euryhaline and eurythermal. They are sociable when young. Their eggs and larvae are pelagic. These fishes are predatory, preying on crustaceans and other fishes.