Dusky Perch

• reproducciónIt can change sex during its life, born female and turning male later on, a phenomenon called protogynous hermaphroditism.
• It is a protogynous hermaphrodite: it is born female and changes to male, usually between 52 and 77 cm and between 7 and 17 years old.
• It is highly sedentary and faithful to its cave: its monthly movements range from 20 to 500 m, which makes it easy to locate and to fish out.
• It can live more than sixty years, and that late maturity combined with its sedentary habits explains why twentieth-century overfishing left it on the brink of collapse.
• In marine reserves such as those of Corsica the populations are recovering.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bony fish)

Habitat & environment

Rocky bottoms and reefs of the Mediterranean, the eastern Atlantic and the western Indian Ocean, between 8 and 300 m although almost always above 50 m; juveniles occupy rock pools and the rocky shore

Sexual maturity

11 years

Sources consulted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epinephelus_marginatus