Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of West coast seabream (Lithognathus aureti), recorded as Endangered
West coast seabream (Lithognathus aureti). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Endangered

West coast seabream

Lithognathus aureti

West coast seabream is a ray-finned fish in the family Sparidae (order Perciformes) — Lithognathus aureti, recorded as Endangered.

Status
Endangered
Scientific name
Lithognathus aureti
Taxonomy
Perciformes · Sparidae · Lithognathus

Appearance

There are no scales on the snout and the upper jaw is protusible. The dorsal fin has eleven spines and nine to ten soft rays, and the anal fin has three spines and eight to nine soft rays. The colour is silvery-grey with about seven faint, vertical bars that are more visible in young fish.

The west coast seabream is a deep-bodied fish that can grow to a length of about 100 cm (39 in). The maximum recorded weight is 19.3 kilograms (43 lb).

Range and habitat

Endemic to the coast of southwestern Africa, the west coast seabream's range extends from Rio Longa, in Angola, to Cape Town, South Africa, but it is uncommon outside Namibian waters. It occurs in two separate populations. One in the northern and central part of Namibia and one around Meob Bay in the south. It is found in very shallow water off the coasts of to Angola, Namibia and South Africa.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

Breeding

The eggs are spawned in the surf zone and tend to drift northwards with the sea current.

In crisis

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists its conservation status as being "Endangered".

West coast seabream is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on West coast seabream, Wikidata item Q1919285. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia · Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

Same genus

Photograph of White steenbras (Lithognathus lithognathus), recorded as EndangeredEN

White steenbras

Lithognathus lithognathus
Photograph of Vaquita (Phocoena sinus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Vaquita

Phocoena sinus
Photograph of Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Javan rhinoceros

Rhinoceros sondaicus
Photograph of Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Sumatran orangutan

Pongo abelii

Quick answers

What is West coast seabream?
West coast seabream is a ray-finned fish in the family Sparidae (order Perciformes) — Lithognathus aureti.
What is the conservation status of West coast seabream?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Lithognathus aureti. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does West coast seabream live?
Endemic to the coast of southwestern Africa, the west coast seabream's range extends from Rio Longa, in Angola, to Cape Town, South Africa, but it is uncommon outside Namibian waters.
Why is West coast seabream in crisis?
The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists its conservation status as being "Endangered".
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Lithognathus aureti?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is West coast seabream a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.