White Sea Bream

Diplodus sargus has a deep, somewhat compressed body with a high, arched back. The cheeks and gill cover are scaled. The mouth is terminal with thin lips and slightly protrusible jaws. At the front of each jaw there are 8, occasionally 10 in the upper jaw, incisor-like teeth with several rows of molar-like teeth behind them. There are 11 or 12 spines, typically 12, and between12 and 16 soft rays supporting the dorsal fin while the anal fin is supported by 3 spines and 12 to 14 soft rays. The caudal fin is forked. The overall colour is silvery-grey, the front of the head being darker. There are 9 vertical bars, these alternate between very dark and lighter bars but there may be only dark bars or none. There is a dark saddle-like blotch on the caudal peduncle, immediately to the rear of the last soft rays of the dorsal fin. There is a black spot above the base of the pectoral fin. The dorsal and anal fins are dusky in colour, darkening towards their far edges. The rear edge of the caudal fin is black. There are only 5 stripes in juveniles. The white seabream has a maximum published total length of 45 cm (18 in), although 22 cm (8.7 in) is more typical, with a maximum published weight of 1.9 kg (4.2 lb).

Duiplodus sargus is found in the northeastern Atlantic from the southern Brittany, the Bay of Biscay and the Atlantic coasts of Spain and Portugal into the Strait of Gibraltar and throughout the Mediterranean and Black Sea. It is replaced off the coast of Israel by D. levantinus. In the eastern Atlantic this species has been moving north and has been recorded in the Channel Islands. The white sea bream is a benthopelagic, schooling species inhabiting coastal areas with rocky bottoms interspersed with sand from 0 to 150 m (0 to 492 ft), being most numerous in the surf zone. The young occur in Zostera beds and this species uses estuaries as nursery areas.

Diplodus sargus has the specific name sargus which is derived from sargo, a Greek name for a sparid fish, which was in use at least as long ago as Aristotle.