Species
Common pandora
Common pandora, also called king of the breams or Spanish seabream: a pink and silver seabream with small blue spots on the back, popular with boat anglers fishing close to the bottom.
Pagellus erythrinus
Photo: Georg Mrkvicka, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, adjusted to 3:2
- Spawning
- April to September with a peak in May and June, varying by region (English Wikipedia); German Wikipedia says summer to early fall, and FishBase notes possibly two spawning periods in the southern Mediterranean. The pandora starts life as a female and later becomes a male, usually at 3 to 4 years and 12.8 to 20.3 cm (English Wikipedia, FishBase).
- Typical method
- Boat fishing close to the bottom with natural bait (German Wikipedia)
- Top bait
- Squid strips
How to recognise it
- Pink to pinkish silver without stripes or bars, small blue spots on the upper back
- Upper edge of the gill cover carmine, reddish spot at the pectoral fin base (English Wikipedia)
- Thick lips, pointed teeth in front, molars behind
Easily confused with: Young common dentex are also pink but have only pointed canine teeth and no molars (English Wikipedia). The "dorade rosé" sold in shops is the pandora, not the gilthead seabream (German Wikipedia).
How to catch it
Methods: Boat fishing close to the bottom with natural bait (German Wikipedia), Light jigging with inchiku or metal jigs (German Wikipedia), Night fishing from the shore with natural bait at some spots (German Wikipedia), Drift fishing over sandy edges and rubble (rule of thumb)
Baits: Squid strips, Small baitfish, Shrimp, Ragworm, Inchiku or small metal jig
Within reach of boat anglers in summer and fall, deeper in winter (FishBase). In some bays it moves into shallow water at night and can then be caught from the shore (German Wikipedia).
Habitat and food
Eastern Atlantic from Norway (rare there) and the Mediterranean to Guinea-Bissau, including Cape Verde, Madeira and the Canary Islands (FishBase); also in the western Black Sea (English Wikipedia). Over rock, gravel, sand and mud, 20 to 320 m deep, usually 20 to 100 m; moves deeper in winter (FishBase). Juveniles live closer inshore (English Wikipedia). German Wikipedia describes small groups patrolling edges at 20 to 190 m, in some bays rising into shallow water at night.
Mainly bottom dwelling invertebrates and small fish (FishBase). In the central Adriatic small pandoras (13 to 21 cm) ate mostly bristle worms, larger fish over 21 cm mostly decapod crustaceans and fish (English Wikipedia). German Wikipedia lists dragonets, sardines, anchovies, sand eels, crabs, Norway lobster, mussels and squid.
Size and age
FishBase: max. 60 cm standard length, common 25 cm, maximum published weight 3.2 kg; mean length at maturity 14.2 cm. English Wikipedia gives the 60 cm as total length. German Wikipedia: usually 15 to 25 cm, exceptional fish up to 55 cm and over 1 kg. The sources give no maximum age.
Protection and rules
Size limits, bag limits, seasons and licences are set by each country, in the USA by each state. Pescaday does not list these rules: check them with your operator and the national authority before you fish. Notes with sources are given above under conservation status. Licence pages: Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Portugal. Fishing travel guide
In the kitchen
White, very tender flesh with an excellent reputation in Mediterranean cooking, considered by some to beat the gilthead (German Wikipedia); sold fresh, smoked, frozen or dried and salted (English Wikipedia). FishBase lists reports of ciguatera poisoning.
Sources (5)
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