Life history of black seabream, Spondyliosoma cantharus, off the Canary Islands, Central-east Atlantic

Black seabream, Spondyliosoma cantharus, caught off the Canary Islands is c haracterized by a protogynous hermaphroditism. The size range of the catche s is between 8 and 40 cm, with a main distribution between 16 and 24 cm. Th e mean length of the individuals shows an increase with increasing depth. M ales:females ratio is unbalanced in favour of females (1:2.18). The reprodu ctive season extends from late autumn to mid spring, with a peak in spawnin g activity in January-February. A dichromatism is found between males and f emales during the spawning season. Males reach maturity at a larger total l ength, 22.7 cm (3 years old), than females, 17.3 cm (2 years old). Morphome tric relationship between length and mass for the whole population is descr ibed by the parameters: a = 0.00732, and b = 3.24747. Otoliths age readings indicate that the exploited population consists of eleven age groups (0-X years), including a very high proportion of individuals between 2 and 3 yea rs old. The von Bertalanffy growth parameters for the whole population are: L-infinity = 43.35 cm, k = 0.24 year(-1), and t(0) = -0.11 year. The rates of total, natural and fishing mortality are 1.36, 0.52 and 0.84 year(-1), respectively. The length at first capture is 16.8 cm. The exploitation rate indicates that the stock is overfished.