Genus of fishes
Pagrus is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Sparidae, which includes the seabreams and porgies. These fishes are found in the Western Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. They are esteemed food fishes which are targeted by commercial fisheries and are grown in aquaculture.
Taxonomy.
"Pagrus" was first proposed as a genus in 1816 by the French zoologist Georges Cuvier with "Sparus pagrus" as its type species by absolute tautonymy, "Sparus pagrus" was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of "Systema Naturae" with its type locality given as the Mediterranean Sea of southern Europe. This genus is placed in the family Sparidae within the order Spariformes by the 5th edition of "Fishes of the World". Some authorities classify this genus in the subfamily Sparinae, but the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognise subfamilies within the Sparidae.
Species.
"Pagrus" contains at least six described species:
"Catalog of Fishes" recognises five species within the genus as it classifies "P. auratus" in the monospecific genus "Chrysophrys" Quoy &amp; Gaimard, 1824. This is not followed by "FishBase" but is accepted by other authorities.
Etymology.
"Pagrus" is tautonymous from "Sparus pagrus", the name "pagrus" comes from a Greek word for seabreams that dates at least to the time of Aristotle.
Characteristics.
"Pagrus" seabreams are characterised by having oblong, compressed bodies with deep heads which have rounded dorsal profiles. The rear nostril is oblong, the front nostril is a slit. The moderately protrusible mouth is small, horizontal and the end of the maxilla is overlapped by the suborbital bone. There are two rows of teeth in the jaws, the front row is made up of between 6 and 6 sharp, canine-like teeth with molar-like teeth to the rear of them. The margin of the preoperculum is smooth. The dorsal fin is low and is supported by 12 spines while the anal fin is short-based and is supported by 3 short spines and 8 soft rays ; The long pectoral fins are clearly longer than the pelvic fins. The cheeks and gill covers are scaled but there are no scales on the snout or between the eyes and the mouth. There are between 48 and 60 scales in the lateral line and there no large blotch at its origin. The largest species in the genus is "P. auratus" with a maximum published total length of , while the smallest is "P. africanus" with a maximum published total length of .
Distribution and habitat.
"Pagrus" seabreams are found in the Atlantic Ocean, where "P. pagrus" occurs on both sides of the Ocean and in the Mediterranean, while the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea have two other native species, "P. auriga" and "P. caeruleostictus". "P. africanus" is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean off West Africa. The remaining two species are found in the Western Pacific Ocean. However, "P. major" has been introduced into the Mediterranean probably as a result of escapes from aquaculture. These fishes prefer hard bottoms but may be found in estuaries.
Biology.
"Pagrus" seabreams are carnivores, using their crushingh molars to feed on molluscs and crustaceans but they have also been found to eat softer bodied prey such as cephalopods and fishes. "P. pagrus" and "P. caeruleostictus" are at least partial protogynous hermaphrodites.
Fisheries.
"Pagrus" seabreams are valued as food fishes, as well as being used to produce fish meal and fish oil, and are targeted by fisheries wherever they occur. They are also used in aquaculture in both Japan and the Mediterranean.
References.
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