Saltwater Boat Angling — December 2017

36 Saltwater Boat Angling

Team bream

A guide to the wide variety of bream species

Black bream

Spondyliosoma Cantharu

This fish has an oval shape with a single, long dorsal fin

which runs for around two thirds of the body length and

has short protruding spines. Its gill covers also have sharp

spines. It is usually black, with grey-to-silver stripes, and

fades to white/silver towards the belly. In the breeding

season, male fish take on a spectacular hue of azure

across the snout and around the eye. The anal fin is much

smaller and tail is deeply forked. The mouth is small but

powerful and full of small sharp teeth.

Gilthead bream

Sparus Aurate

Slightly more elongated body than the other bream

species and with a much steeper forehead. Its spiny dorsal

fins start just behind the gill cover and run all the way

down the back. They are bluish-silver and have those long

distinctive pectoral fins. The most distinguishing mark is

the gold bar across the forehead between their eyes. The

lips are thick with a low-set mouth. They have four-to-six

canine-like teeth, anteriorly in each jaw, followed,

posteriorly, by blunter teeth which become progressively

molar-like and are arranged in two to four rows (teeth in

the two outer rows are stronger).

Dentex

Dentex Dentex

Adult dentex can reach a length of one metre (3 feet), and

weight up to 16kg (35lb). Their body is oval and

compressed. Teeth are very developed in each jaw.

Dentex have eleven dorsal spines: eleven to twelve dorsal

soft rays; three anal spines: seven to nine anal soft rays.

Adults are grey-blue, while young dentex have a slightly

different livery, brown-blue with blue fins.

Couch’s bream

Pagrus pagrus (formerly Sparus pagrus)

Also known as the Red Porgy,

The Couch’s bream can grow to almost a metre long and

weigh around fifteen pounds. It has a slightly more

elongated body than most other bream species and its

dorsal fin is unusual in that it begins as a spined fin and

then is more rounded and softer in the trailing edge.

Overall colour is red/pink fading to a silver underbelly. It

has a wide distribution and is found throughout the

B

ream are a prized summer angling species, particularly in along the south coast. There are seven species which

have been caught in British waters and two in particular that are regularly targeted by anglers.

Black bream is the most commonly targeted followed increasingly by gilthead. Ray’s, Couch’s and red bream are

also landed, irregularly, but rarely targeted by anglers.

Most bream species are protogynous hermaphrodites. They are all born as females but, certain fish, will turn into males

when they reach sexual maturity, to allow reproduction to take place (this happens at approximately 35cm in the case of

black bream). This is something that bream have in common with wrasse species.

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