Symphodus melops

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	ACTINOPTERYGII	PERCIFORMES	LABRIDAE

Scientific Name:

Symphodus melops

Species Authority:

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Common Name/s:

English	–	Corkwing, Corkwing wrasse, Gilt-head
French	–	Crénilabre mélops
Spanish	–	Bello, Porredana, Porredano

Synonym/s:

Crenilabrus gibbus (Gmelin, 1789)

Crenilabrus melops (Linnaeus, 1758)

Labrus cornubius Gmelin, 1789

Labrus gibbosus Bonnaterre, 1788

Labrus gibbus Gmelin, 1789

Labrus goldsinny Bonnaterre, 1788

Labrus melops Linnaeus, 1758

Labrus reticulatus Bonnaterre, 1788

Labrus rone Ascanius, 1772

Labrus tesselatus Bloch, 1792

Labrus venosus Gmelin, 1789

Lutjanus melops (Linnaeus, 1758)

Lutjanus norvegicus Bloch, 1797

Taxonomic Notes:

This species has in the past been misidentified as Symphodus tinca and Symphodus roissali (D. Pollard pers. comm.. 2008).

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Least Concern ver 3.1
Year Published:	2010
Assessor/s:	Pollard, D.
Reviewer/s:	Sadovy, Y. & Carpenter, K.E.
Contributor/s:
Justification: This species is widespread off the Atlantic coastlines of western Europe, and present throughout much of the Mediterranean Sea. There are no known major threats to this species, and though there is little specific population information available, overall its populations are thought to be stable. It is therefore listed as Least Concern.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	In the Eastern Atlantic, this species is present from southern Norway to northern Morocco, including much of the Baltic Sea, and around the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Azores Islands. In the Mediterranean Sea, it is present in the western and north-eastern Mediterranean basins, the Levantine Sea and the Adriatic Sea.
Countries:	Native: Albania; Algeria; Belgium; Croatia; Cyprus; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; France; Germany; Gibraltar; Greece; Guernsey; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Jersey; Latvia; Lebanon; Lithuania; Malta; Monaco; Morocco; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Russian Federation; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Syrian Arab Republic; Tunisia; Turkey; United Kingdom
FAO Marine Fishing Areas:	Native: Atlantic – eastern central; Atlantic – northeast; Mediterranean and Black Sea
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	There is very little population information available for this species. It is primarily a colder-water Eastern Atlantic species, and therefore is more common in the western part of the Mediterranean Sea. Its abundance varies throughout the remainder of the Mediterranean Sea (D. Pollard pers. comm. 2008).
Population Trend:	Stable

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	This schooling, territorial fish occurs around rocks, rocky reefs and seagrass beds, and also in coastal lagoon habitats. It feeds on molluscs, hydroids, bryozoans, worms and crustaceans (Quignard and Pras 1986). There is a clear sexual dimorphism, and this species is probably a protogynous hermaphrodite. The male constructs a nest of seaweed amongst rocks or in rock crevices, in which the adhesive eggs are laid (Golani et al. 2006).
Systems:	Marine

Habitat and Ecology:

This schooling, territorial fish occurs around rocks, rocky reefs and seagrass beds, and also in coastal lagoon habitats. It feeds on molluscs, hydroids, bryozoans, worms and crustaceans (Quignard and Pras 1986).

There is a clear sexual dimorphism, and this species is probably a protogynous hermaphrodite. The male constructs a nest of seaweed amongst rocks or in rock crevices, in which the adhesive eggs are laid (Golani et al. 2006).

Systems:

Marine

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	There are no known major threats to this species, although it is sometimes caught as bycatch in local fisheries and sold for food.

Major Threat(s):

There are no known major threats to this species, although it is sometimes caught as bycatch in local fisheries and sold for food.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	There are no specific conservation measures in place for this species. Its distribution overlaps several marine protected areas within its range.

Conservation Actions:

There are no specific conservation measures in place for this species. Its distribution overlaps several marine protected areas within its range.

Citation:	Pollard, D. 2010. Symphodus melops. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 19 May 2013.
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