Fish
Annular Seabream
Diplodus annularis · also called annular bream
Over a sunlit seagrass meadow, a shoal of annular seabream drifts, each small silver fish ringed with black at the base of its tail.
Overview
The annular seabream, Diplodus annularis, is a Least Concern sea bream of seagrass beds and sandy bottoms in the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic. Its small size, tail ring, and meadow shoals make it one of the commonest and most characteristic small fish of Mediterranean seagrass.
A small fish in a big meadow
Seagrass meadows provide the annular seabream with food and shelter, and the small fish in turn feed larger predators, linking the meadow to the wider sea.
Status
Least Concern, widespread and common.
Annular Seabream: common questions
Why is it called the annular seabream?
It has a black ring, or annulus, around the base of its tail, which gives it its name.
How big is the annular seabream?
It is a small sea bream, usually 12 to 18 cm long.
Where does the annular seabream live?
It lives in shoals over seagrass beds, sand, and rocky ground in shallow water.
Where is the annular seabream found?
It lives in the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic, from the Bay of Biscay to West Africa.