Orata
Gilt-head bream or sea bream is a fish that usually lives in open water, in this video we see a specimen in a hole, probably looking for molluscs and crustaceans on which it feeds. Often very wary of the diver from whom they keep their distance, in summer it is easy to find specimens, even large ones, among the swimmers. We surprised her in this hole so she found herself remaining in front of the camera for a few seconds just a few centimeters away and then definitively disappearing. Gilt-head bream Sparus aurata Orata www.intotheblue.it
Sea bream (Sparus aurata Linnaeus, 1758) is a bony sea and brackish water fish belonging to the Sparidae family. The name derives from the characteristic gold stripe that the fish shows between its eyes.
Distribution and habitat
Sea bream is present throughout the Mediterranean basin and in the eastern Atlantic, from the extreme south of the British Isles to Cape Verde. It is a strictly coastal fish and lives between 5 and 150 m from the coast; It frequents both hard and sandy bottoms and is particularly widespread on the border between the two substrates. It normally leads a solitary life or in small groups. It is a very euryhaline species, so much so that it can frequently be found in lagoons and estuaries, but it is extremely sensitive to low temperatures. It is very common in Italian seas.
Description
It stands out for having a very convex head profile and a slightly shorter mandible than the upper jaw. On the front of each jaw there are 4-6 large caniniform teeth, followed by 3-5 sets of upper and 3-69 lower molariform teeth.
The body is elevated and depressed oval. The dorsal fin is unique with 11 spiny and 12-13 soft rays. Scales on the snout, preorbital and interorbital are absent. The lateral line includes 75-85 scales. The back is bluish gray and the sides silvery with thin longitudinal gray lines.
A black and a golden band are placed between the eyes. The scapular region is black, this color continues on the upper part of the operculum, the margin of which is reddish. The dorsal fin is bluish grey, with a darker longitudinal median band.
The maximum length of the sea bream is 70 cm, but the most common is between 20 and 50 cm; it can reach a weight of approximately 10 kg.
Reproduction
Sea bream are protandrous hermaphrodites: most individuals undergo sexual reversal at the age of 2 years (33–40 cm in length). Reproduction (with multiple oviposition cycles) occurs between October and December.
Diet
Its diet in nature consists mainly of molluscs and crustaceans, the shells of which it breaks down with its strong jaws.
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparus_aurata
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