Brown Meagre
Brown Meagre (Sciaena umbra) is one of the most beautiful fish in the Mediterranean Sea and in this dive we met two of them on a rocky bottom of about 38 – 42 meters deep. As you can see we managed to get very close without scaring them and they then showed us their beautiful colors and reflections, captured by our torches and cameras.
The Brown Meagre, like many other fish, at depth seems to be calmer towards the diver, on the contrary when it is in the shallows and near the coast it tends to flee as soon as it perceives the presence of the diver even if free-diving and therefore without emitting the annoying bubbles.
When we dive with scuba tanks, the bubbles that we generate to breathe and that are expelled from our regulators, are a huge nuisance for the fish, which therefore tend to stay at a certain distance from the divers. The “trick” to get closer is to hold your breath, remain still, move using microgravity without emitting any vibrations. The fish will feel calm and will therefore come closer to satisfy their unstoppable curiosity.
The brown meagre (Sciaena umbra), is a saltwater fish belonging to the Sciaenidae family.
Distribution and habitat
This species is widespread in the western Mediterranean and along the eastern Atlantic coast, from the English Channel to Sierra Leone. It usually inhabits rocky seabeds, from a few meters deep up to 30; sometimes it goes down to -180 meters.
Description
The brown meagre has an elongated body, compressed at the sides, with a pointed head and high forehead, which then descends towards the long caudal peduncle drawing an arch. The ventral profile is horizontal. The fins are rounded. The livery has a golden brown background color with silver reflections, pelvic fins and anal fin are black, with a white front edge. The caudal fin tends to yellow, black on the lower edge, while the double dorsal fin, yellowish, is very marked. It reaches a length of over 50 centimeters.
Behavior
A gregarious species, nocturnal in habits. Usually rather slow in movement, but capable of sudden bursts in case of need. The males of this species produce a dull clicking sound caused by the clash of their pharyngeal teeth, a noise amplified by the swim bladder[3] which functions as a sounding board.
Reproduction
Spawning occurs in August.
Diet
Brown meagre feeds on small fish and crustaceans.
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sciaena_umbra
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_meagre
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