Teleostei (teleosts) >
Eupercaria/misc (Various families in series Eupercaria) >
Sciaenidae (Drums or croakers)
Etymology: Argyrosomus: Greek, argyros = silvered, silver + Greek, soma = body (Ref. 45335).
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; brackish; benthopelagic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 15 - 300 m (Ref. 2683). Subtropical; 65°N - 6°S, 23°W - 36°E
Eastern Atlantic: Norway to Gibraltar and Congo, including the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Migrated to the Red Sea via the Suez Canal.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?, range 80 - ? cm
Max length : 230 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5377); common length : 150 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3593); max. published weight: 103.0 kg (Ref. 11036)
Adults are found inshore and shelf waters, close to bottom as well as in surface and mid-waters, pursuing shoals of clupeids and mugilids. They congregate inshore to spawn during spring and summer. Juveniles and sub-adults enter estuaries and coastal lagoons (Ref. 3593). Both adults and juveniles are migratory moving along shore or offshore-onshore in response to temperature change (Ref. 11025). Feed on fishes and swimming crustaceans.
Chao, L.N. and E. Trewavas, 1990. Sciaenidae. p. 813-826. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 3593)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes
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Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 13.3 - 19.4, mean 15.3 °C (based on 169 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5020 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00832 (0.00757 - 0.00914), b=3.07 (3.05 - 3.09), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 4.3 ±0.75 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.09).
Prior r = 0.28, 95% CL = 0.19 - 0.42, Based on 3 data-limited stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Very high vulnerability (79 of 100).
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Climate Vulnerability (Ref.
125649): Moderate to high vulnerability (48 of 100).
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Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 18.3 [6.5, 50.3] mg/100g; Iron = 0.438 [0.149, 1.307] mg/100g; Protein = 19.4 [17.5, 21.4] %; Omega3 = 0.322 [0.172, 0.553] g/100g; Selenium = 34.1 [11.0, 127.8] μg/100g; VitaminA = 11.8 [3.7, 39.9] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.471 [0.336, 0.696] mg/100g (wet weight); based on
nutrient studies.