The brown meagre or corb (''Sciaena umbra'') is a species of croaker found in, the eastern Atlantic,

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

and

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

occurring in shallow waters and sandy bottoms. It is harvested for human consumption, especially in the Mediterranean.

Etymology

The specific name ''umbra'' is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for a shadow or phantom while the generic name is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''skiaina'' or ''skion'' meaning a fish, or more specifically a

red mullet Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

Distribution

The brown meagre is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from the southern

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

south to

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

and

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

, including the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

, records from West Africa south of Senegal are questionable. Also in the Mediterranean Sea, the

and

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov ( Crimean Tatar: ''Azaq deñizi''; russian: Азовское море, Azovskoye more; uk, Азовське море, Azovs'ke more) is a sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, ...

Habitat

The brown meagre is found at depths between 5m and 200m, mainly over rocky and sandy substrates and the young enter estuarine environments.

Description

The brown meagre is between 30 and 40 cm in length but can grow to 60 cm. It has a flat belly and its strongly arched back which give it an easily recognisable shape, the body is laterally compressed and the large, horizontal mouth reaches the level of the eye and contains villiform teeth. The anal and pelvic fins are black with an anterior white border. Both dorsal fins and the truncate caudal fin, are yellow with a black border. The body is grey with flashes of gold and silver. The scales are

ctenoid A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as ...

on the nape and the body while the head scales are

cycloid In geometry, a cycloid is the curve traced by a point on a circle as it rolls along a straight line without slipping. A cycloid is a specific form of trochoid and is an example of a roulette, a curve generated by a curve rolling on another curve ...

Biology and behaviour

It is a rather nocturnal fish but it can occasionally be found during the day among beds of sea grass and on rocky bottoms in the vicinity of caves or large crevices where it can shelter. This species is social and lives in small groups. It feeds off the small fishes and crustaceans. They are capable of creating sound using some muscles under their well developed swim bladder. This is their way of communication since they have a very good hearing ability. They can manage their buoyancy perfectly. The spawning period is from March to August in the Mediterranean.

Fisheries

The brown meagre is a commercial species throughout the Mediterranean basin and has been over exploited by fishing practices. It is fished mainly by spear fishing, trammel nets, and gill nets and is heavily exposed to fisheries during spawning aggregations at the mouths of estuaries. Sold fresh or frozen across fish markets in Turkey. The

otolith An otolith ( grc-gre, ὠτο-, ' ear + , ', a stone), also called statoconium or otoconium or statolith, is a calcium carbonate structure in the saccule or utricle of the inner ear, specifically in the vestibular system of vertebrates. The sa ...

s of the brown meagre are ground and used for urinary infections by local people in Turkey. The sport and

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...

of this species was banned in Turkey until 2003 and 2006 to help conserve the stock.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1383737 Fish of the Black Sea Fish of the Mediterranean Sea Fish described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Fish of Western Asia Fish of Europe Sciaenidae