The Dane seabream (''Porcostoma dentata''), also known as the Dane, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family

Sparidae The Sparidae are a family of fish in the order Perciformes, commonly called sea breams and porgies. The sheepshead, scup, and red seabream are species in this family. Most sparids are deep-bodied compressed fish with a small mouth separated by a ...

, which includes the seabreams and porgies. The Dane seabream is the only species in the monospecific genus ''Porcostoma''. This species is endemic to the southwestern Indian Ocean off the coast of Southern Africa.

Taxonomy

The Dane seabream was first formally described as ''Chrysophrys dentatus'' by the ichthyologists John Dow Fisher Gilchrist, a Scot, and William Wardlaw Thompson, a South African, with its

type locality Type locality may refer to: * Type locality (biology) * Type locality (geology) See also * Local (disambiguation) * Locality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

given as Natal. In 1938 James Leonard Brierley Smith reclassified this species in the monospecific genus ''Porcostoma''. This taxon is placed in the family Sparidae within the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Spariformes by the 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011) is a standard reference for fish systematics. Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of the diversity and classification of the ...

''. 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.

Etymology

The Dane seabream has the genus name ''Porcostoma'' which is a combination of ''Porcus'', meaning "pig", with ''stoma'' meaning "mouth". This is thought to refer to the canine-like teeth that project out of the closed mouth like the tusks of a boar. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''dentata'', means "toothed", also referring to the visible teeth when the mouth is closed.

Description

The Dane seabream has scales between the eyes and on the bases of the soft rayed parts of the dorsal and

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

s. There is s distinctive black streak along the first few scales of the

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

. The dorsal fin is supported by 13 spines and 10 or11 soft rays while there are 3 spines and 8 or 9 soft rays in the anal fin. The pectoral fins have 17 or 18 fin rays. The body is plump and ovoid, its

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish m ...

is 2.5 times its depth. The dorsal profile of the head is straight or concave from the snout to the nape and then gently convex to the base of the dorsal fin. Both the lobes of the caudal fin are rounded. The overall colour of the body is red, paler below, with some individuals showing streaks along the scale rows. There is a dark bar between the eyes and there is a dark streak along the front of the lateral line. The rears parts of the dorsal and anal fins, as well as the pectoral and

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two en ...

s are tinged golden. The juveniles are yellow and have 2 black blotches on lateral line. This species has a maximum total length of , although is more typical.

Distribution and habitat

The Dane seabream is endemic to the southwestern Indian Ocean along the southeastern coast of Africa between

Beira, Mozambique Beira is the capital and largest city of Sofala Province, where the Pungwe River meets the Indian Ocean, in the central region of Mozambique. It is the fourth-largest city by population in Mozambique, after Maputo, Matola and Nampula. Beira had a ...

and

Tsitsikamma The Tsitsikamma National Park is a protected area on the Garden Route, Western Cape and Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is a coastal reserve well known for its indigenous forests, dramatic coastline, and the Otter Trail. On 6 March 2009 it was ...

in the Western Cape. This species occurs on reefs, especially deeper reefs in the vicinity of pinnacles and drop offs at depths between .

Biology

The Dane seabream is predatory species, with the adults feeding on a variety of animals including crinoids,

mantis shrimps Mantis shrimp, or stomatopods, are carnivorous marine crustaceans of the order Stomatopoda (). Stomatopods branched off from other members of the class Malacostraca around 340 million years ago. Mantis shrimp typically grow to around in length, ...

, polychaetes,

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

s and hermit crabs. Sexual maturity is reached around a fork length of and spawning takes place off KwaZulu-Natal in the Spring. There are reports of this species gathering in schools but also of fish living singly.

Fisheries

The Dane seabream is commonly caught in ski boat fisheries of Mozambique and eastern South Africa but it is too small to be of interest to commercial fisheries. It is often not sold but is given to boat crews for their own consumption. Even recreational anglers frequently return Dane seabreams rather than take them.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2856355, from2=Q2704929 Sparidae Fish described in 1908 Taxa named by John Dow Fisher Gilchrist Taxa named by William Wardlaw Thompson