Black Seabream

The black seabream has a moderately deep body with a small, round profiled head with a mouth that extends as far back as the front of the eye. The dorsal fin is supported by 11 spines and between 11 and 13 soft rays and there are 3 spines and 9 to 11 soft rays supporting the anal fin. In adults the dorsal profile of the head is convex. The cheeks, operculum and preoperculum have no scales. There are 4 to 6 rows of conical and thin teeth, the outer teeth enlarged especially at the front of the jaw, in both jaws. The caudal fin is slightly forked. The colour if this fish is darker grey on the upper body, silvery on the flanks, with between 6 and 9 dark vertical bars along the body. The males may turn nearly black when nesting. This species has a maximum published total length of 60 cm (24 in), although 30 cm (12 in) is more typical, and a maximum published weight of 1.2 kg (2.6 lb).

The black seabream has a wide distribution in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from Scandinavia in the north to Namibia in the south, including the Macaronesia, the Mediterranean and the western Black Sea. It is found at depths between 5 and 300 m (16 and 984 ft) over seagrass beds and rocky and sandy substrates.

The black seabream is classified in the genus Spondyliosoma which combines spondylus, meaning "spindle", and soma, which means body. The author of the genus, Cantor, did not explain what thus alluded to, nor is it clear. The specific name cantharus which is a latinisation of kantharos, an Ancient Greek name for this species, dating from at least the time of Aristotle.