Sea Bream

Sea Bream, Archosargus rhomboidalis

Sea Bream, Archosargus rhomboidalis. Fish caught from coastal waters off Islamorada, Florida, April 2012. Length: 18 cm (7.0 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Sea Bream, Female, Archosargus rhomboidalis. Fish purchased at the Walmart, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, March 2009. Length: 25 cm (10 inches). Identification courtesy of Dr. Ross Robertson, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama.

The Sea Bream, Archosargus rhomboidalis, is a member of the Porgy or Sparidae Family, that is also known as the Western Atlantic Seabream and in Mexico as sargo amarillo. Globally, there are three species in the genus Archosargus, of which two are found in Mexican waters, both in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Sea Bream has a somewhat compressed oval body with a humped back with a depth that is 44% to 48% of standard length. They are light blue in color and transition to silver ventrally with 7 irregular golden stripes on their sides. There is a prominent black blotch above their pectoral fin base and their fins have an orange tint. The pelvic fins are dark in males and orange in females. Their head is small and pointed and has an asymmetrical convex profile. They have moderately-sized eyes and a small mouth that opens at the front. Their anal fin has a short base with 3 spines, the second of which is very strong,  and 9 or 10 rays; their caudal fin is forked; their dorsal fin is long and low with 13 spines and 10 or 11 rays; their pectoral fins are long and reach the second anal spine. They are covered with scales.

The Sea Bream is found in marine and brackish environments, in reefs over muddy and sandy bottoms, and in seagrass beds and mangroves at depths up to 50 m (165 feet). They reach a maximum of 33 cm (13 inches) in length and just over 450 grams (1 lb) in weight. They feed on benthic invertebrates including small bivalves and crustaceans as well as plant material. They have a limited lifespan of only two years. The Sea Bream is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

In Mexican waters the Sea Bream is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean.

The Sea Bream is most likely confused with the Pinfish, Lagodon rhomboides (narrower oval body; blue stripes; wide blue anal fin margin).

From a conservation perspective the Sea Bream is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are fished commercially and taken with longlines, seines, and trammel nets and marketed fresh and frozen but are not in high demand. They are a target of recreational anglers and provide a good fight for their size. They are caught by drifting or still fishing on light spinning and bait casting tackle on live or dead shrimp and cut fish or squid.

Note: this fish, on occasion will show up in the fresh fish section of many of the major supermarkets in the greater Los Cabos area.  They are always “old,” beat to hell with the color badly faded, and of very poor quality and sold at high prices indicative of their transport from the East Coast.