Sparidae - Diplodus puntazzo

In this video

In this video collage made on two different occasions we can see a Diplodus fish, Diplodus puntazzo, a fish belonging to the genus of Sea Breams (Diplodus) of the Sparidae family.

Sarago Pizzuto Diplodus puntazzo intotheblue.it
Sarago Pizzuto Diplodus puntazzo intotheblue.it

In the first video we found it in one of the many cliffs on the Livorno coast while in the company of other sparids it looks for food between the holes and the ravines of a rocky bottom. In the second video we are instead in the extreme south of Sardinia in the waters of the marine reserve of Capo Carbonara, where two specimens of Sargo Picudo (Diplodus puntazzo) share the same environment always together with other sparids such as Salpa Sarpa, Oblada Melanura and Sea Breams of other species.

Sarago Pizzuto, Sargo picudo, is similar to other species of its genus, it is recognized by the extremely pointed snout, from which it goes back to the common name and from the rather evident black bands. It differs from the other Sparids in its behavior, Sarago Pizzuto is in fact a pelagic species, that is, that lives mainly in free water. We can hardly find it in burrows and holes and even when it feels threatened it prefers to escape to the open sea as opposed to most sea bream that seek refuge in holes and caves. Sarago Pizzuto Diplodus puntazzo Sparidae intotheblue.it

Sarago pizzuto (Diplodus puntazzo (Walbaum, 1792)) is a fish of the Sparidae family.

Distribution and habitat

It is common in the Mediterranean Sea, in the Black Sea and in the eastern Atlantic Ocean between the Gulf of Gascony and Sierra Leone. It is also present along the Atlantic coasts of South Africa.
It lives solitary on rocky bottoms, young people afloat, adults even at 20 – 50 meters deep.

Description

Form compressed laterally, typical of the Sparidae family, to which it belongs. Similar to the greater bream from which it is distinguished by the frontal profile, which in the proximity of the mouth appears concave rather than convex as in the other sparids:

  • the muzzle is very pointed, hence the name of pizzuto, and this character is very showy and can be easily identified;
  • the black spot on the caudal peduncle is complete also in the lower part;
  • the vertical stripes on the sides are very marked, and remain particularly visible even a few hours away from death;
  • there is a faint triangular band behind the eye, similar to that of the banded but smaller and less pronounced bream;

Biology

Supply

It feeds on algae, molluscs and other invertebrates.

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplodus_puntazzo

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