Greece

Greek fishes and species of fish in Greece

greek-fishesGreece has an amazing variety of fish species. In Greek waters you will find salmon, bream, cod, sea bass, octopus, squid, and much more. This wealth is a result of the variety of marine ecosystems that exist in the Greek seas. Greece, with its hundreds of islands and extensive coastline, has a wealth of marine resources that have shaped the country’s ichthyology. The sea is an essential part of Greek culture and economy, while fish is an important element of the Greek diet.

The favorable climate of the Mediterranean allows the development of rich marine bio-communities. The warm seas attract large numbers of fish, while the precise cold waters of the Ionian and Aegean seas provide the ideal environment for the growth of marine species such as salmon and tuna.

greek-fishFish are an essential element of the Greek diet. The nutritional value of fish is recognized, as they contain high amounts of protein, valuable fatty acids, and mineral nutrients. The Greek seas provide material for traditional recipes, such as brisket and fish soup, that have become entrenched in Greek culture.

Fishing is an important part of the Greek economy. In addition to strengthening the local economy, the export of seafood products, such as fish and seafood, contributes to the promotion of Greek gastronomy at a global level.

Red snapper (Lithrini)

red-snaperThe Red snapper is one of the fish that is widely consumed by the general public and is considered one of the particularly commercial species. It can also be found under other names, such as Sparus erythrinus and Pagellus canariences, which are synonymous names.

The whiting is a demersal species, found in coastal and deep waters in the Atlantic Ocean from Norway and Great Britain to Madeira and the Canary Islands. It is found throughout Europe, although less so in European countries further north. In the Mediterranean region, however, it is found everywhere and, as already mentioned, it is of great commercial importance. The depth where it is usually found is around 20 to 100 meters, although it can also be found at depths of 200-300 meters.

Its head is relatively small and convex, which is more evident in adults, and its mouth is somewhat low. The diameter of the eye is half that of its snout, which is at least double that, but also conical in shape. His teeth are pointed. The dorsal fin of the sea bream includes 8-10 hard rays and 10-11 soft ones. The second and third rays stand out from the rest due to their height and in fact the third hard ray is the one that is particularly distinguished. Its lateral fins are quite long and reach about the middle of the fish’s body. It has two ventral fins and one ventral fin. Its color is slightly pink and more red under the gills, but it also has a hint of silver with small blue spots on its back. Its caudal fin has two equal lobes.

This species can reach up to 60 cm in length and 3 kg in weight, although usually the average length is 25 cm. However, its catch size is usually 10-30 cm. Of course, this is directly related to the fishing depth of the species. Larger individuals of the given species are found at greater depth.

Red Mullet (Mullus surmuletus)

red-mulletThe red mullet is a species of spiny fish of the Trigla genus of the Triglidae family. The length of the mullet reaches 35 cm. It has a reddish color, deeper on the back and dusky red on the belly, and it is covered by many small oval-shaped scales. The pectoral fins bear three spines each, with which the mullet digs up the bottom sand in search of food.

The head is cubical in shape and bears a large mouth with small numerous teeth on both jaws, while the snout is elongated and at the end bears hairy spines (which are popularly called “whiskers”, hence its name). The body is elongated and terminates in four elongated spines.

This species lives in many seas of the temperate regions of the planet (and in Greece), mainly in algae complexes (algae), or in sandy-muddy seabeds, where it looks for its food, which consists of various small molluscs. It is a sought-after catch for its tender and tasty flesh. A variant of the mullet is the Mullus barbatus, which differs from the mullet in color (it is more light-colored), in the shape of the snout (it is more “sharp” at the end, hence its name) and in that does not have an obvious “moustache”.

Dolphin

dolphinDolphins are marine mammals, related to whales and their size starts from 1.2 meters (about 40 kg). Dolphins breathe with lungs and maintain a constant body temperature regardless of the environment, as they are covered in a thick layer of fat, which provides insulation and aids in swimming. On their large and curved forehead is the echolocation system, a kind of sonar, with the help of which they orient themselves, locate food and communicate with each other. They also can and do communicate with whistles, clicks and sounds they make with their jaws.

After the age of five they are capable of reproduction, and every two to three years, after a gestation of 12 months, they give birth to a cub, about 1 meter long, which nurses and remains with its mother for three to six years.

In the Greek seas there are 9 species of dolphins out of a total of 32 species that are observed worldwide. Of these, the most common are four: the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), the striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), and with a lesser presence the gray dolphin (Grampus griseus). The Black Dolphin, the False Orca, the Orca, the Bottlenose Dolphin and the Little Porpoise are much more rare.

Swordfish (Xiphias)

swordfishThe swordfish, commonly known as the swordfish, (scientific name Xiphias gladius) is a large migratory predatory fish whose special characteristic is the long and flat extension of the upper jaw, which resembles a sword, hence its name. The swordfish has a large elongated and round body and loses all its teeth and scales by adulthood. He can live near the coast. Its length reaches 4-4.5 meters, while swords whose weight was a little more than half a ton have also been recorded. A swordfish caught in Chile in 1953 weighed 536.15 kg.

During the hunt the swordsman relies on his high speed (80 kilometers per hour) and agility, while using the “sword” to injure enemies or prey, both by dashing (vertically as a spear) and slashing (right-left as a sickle) within a school of fish. The swordsman is tons’ worst enemy. One of the few natural enemies of the swordfish is the mako shark, which can chase the swordfish because it is quite large and fast, but does not always come out victorious, as the swordfish can fatally injure it.

The swordfish’s only real enemy is small marine vermin that latch onto it and torment it. In these cases, it approaches the shores and rubs furiously against the rocks, whereupon it becomes very dangerous.

Scomber (Scumpri – Kolios)

scomperScomber is a migratory fish of the Scombrid family.This type of fish is related to mackerel but many people do not distinguish between them. It is 45-50 cm long. Its color is blue-green on the back which is very shiny with scattered fine semi-circular lines as well as a splash line along its length on the flank. The eyes are blue, very dark and the belly is white in color.

Its body has an almost circular cross-section, between the eyes a narrow strip in the area of the skull is transparent and the optic nerves can be seen from inside. Its scales are larger on its chest than on the rest of its body. Inside its body cavity it has a fairly large cyst that is connected to its digestive system.

Differences with the mackerel that are immediately noticeable are that the lines on the back of the mackerel are very strong, dark and wavy rather than splattered. The skull stripe is dark, not transparent at all. It does not have a cyst.

The two species have the same habits, they are pelagic fish, they hunt shoals of small fish as well as schools of sardines which are their best food. In August it swims in shallower depths to find food more easily. The depths where the walleye lives reach 250 to 300 meters.

The collies are abundant in the Eastern Mediterranean, they are fished by longlines, wind trawlers, they are caught with both trolling and seining, somewhat off the coast. In summer and autumn they are egg-shaped and full-fat, they are then also called liparites.

The scientific name of the collie is Scomber colias, for the species found in the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic and the Black Sea, and Scober japonicus for the species found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Anchovy (Gavros)

anchovyAnchovy or gavros is a fish known since ancient times. It is the “origin” of the ancient Greeks. It is also known by the name anjouya or hapsi. Its scientific name is “Engraulis encrasicolus” and it belongs to the engraulidae family.

The length of the anchovy reaches up to 20 cm. Its back and sides are blue-green, while its belly is white to silvery and shiny. Its body is elongated, its snout is long and its upper jaw protrudes longer. Its mouth reaches all the way behind the eyes, bearing small and pointed teeth. It bears a dorsal fin, a low pectoral fin, the ventral opposite the dorsal fin, a small triangular peduncle and a forked tail.

It lives in warm areas, in flocks and more in the foam especially in Spring and Summer. In winter, on the contrary, they remain at the bottom at a depth of 100-200 meters, hence their fishing during this period is limited. It feeds on tiny crustaceans and the spawn of other fish. When the weather warms up, it approaches the coasts to lay its eggs, which float along with the plankton.

In the Greek seas there are plenty that are fished from the end of August onwards, when the trawlers work as well as with the gri-gri, where their price per kilo is also very low. Their meat is very tasty, especially if the head is removed before cooking, because it is quite bitter. They are also fished for baiting larger fish. They are marketed either fresh or pickled called anchovies, or processed anchovies in slices, frozen, or canned.

The anchovy fishery in the Greek seas, from a statistical point of view, is monitored. In particular, 10,770 tons were caught in 2001, 9,975 tons in 2002 and 13,780 tons in 2003. Anchovies make up 1/10 of the total annual catch of the Greek seas and come second in catch quantity after sardines. or gavros is a fish known since ancient times. It is the “origin” of the ancient Greeks. It is also known by the name anjouya or hapsi. Its scientific name is “Engraulis encrasicolus” (Engraulis encrasicolus) and it belongs to the engraulidae family.

The length of the anchovy reaches up to 20 cm. Its back and sides are blue-green, while its belly is white to silvery and shiny. Its body is elongated, its snout is long and its upper jaw protrudes longer. Its mouth reaches all the way behind the eyes, bearing small and pointed teeth. It bears a dorsal fin, a low pectoral fin, the ventral opposite the dorsal fin, a small triangular peduncle and a forked tail.

It lives in warm areas, in flocks and more in the foam especially in Spring and Summer. In winter, on the contrary, they remain at the bottom at a depth of 100-200 meters, hence their fishing during this period is limited. It feeds on tiny crustaceans and the spawn of other fish. When the weather warms up, it approaches the coasts to lay its eggs, which float along with the plankton.

In the Greek seas there are plenty that are fished from the end of August onwards, when the trawlers work as well as with the gri-gri, where their price per kilo is also very low. Their meat is very tasty, especially if the head is removed before cooking, because it is quite bitter. They are also fished for baiting larger fish.They are marketed either fresh or pickled called anchovies, or processed anchovies in slices, frozen, or canned.

The anchovy fishery in the Greek seas, from a statistical point of view, is monitored. In particular, 10,770 tons were caught in 2001, 9,975 tons in 2002 and 13,780 tons in 2003. Anchovies make up 1/10 of the total annual catch of the Greek seas and come second in catch quantity after sardines.

Sand steenbras (Mourmoura)

Sand-steenbrasSand steenbras or Kingfish is a Mediterranean saltwater fish that belongs to the Sparidae family, to the genus Lithognathos.
It is a fish with an elongated and oval body that is 20-30 cm long with a pointed snout and fleshy white lips. The mouth is quite developed and the eyes are small set high on the head. Its color is bright silver with 10-20 vertical brown-black rows on back and flanks. The back is gray, the sides are silver and the belly is white.

Sand steenbras is a carnivorous species, it lives in shallow waters near the coasts, in sand or silt bottoms and black algae. It is found in small flocks and in depths that do not exceed 50 meters. During the day it hides, and at night it comes out until dawn and hunts its food, which is small fish and crustaceans. It reproduces in spring and summer, as soon as it turns 2 years old and reaches a size of 14 centimeters.

Eel (Heli)

eelEels are fishes of the order Anguilliformes. The order includes 20 families, 111 genera and 800 species. Most eels are predatory fish. The term eel is also used for other species that are not members of the order, such as the electrophorus eel. They have an elongated body, like a snake, with a length of 5 centimeters to 4 meters. Eels lack pelvic fins, while several species lack pectoral fins. The dorsal and anal fins are joined to form a single band along much of their body. Most eels live in the ocean, mostly in shallow water, buried in sand, mud or between rocks. Most eels are also nocturnal and rarely seen.

The eel is a species that does not reproduce in captivity. It is pointed out that in the rivers, lakes and other water basins of Europe it remains only as long as it is young. When it reaches the age of reproductive maturity (6 to 12 years for males and 9 to 18 years for females), it returns to its unique place of birth: the Sargasso Sea, in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida (USA), where it reproduces and from where it never returns.

Its larvae remain there for one to two years and are then transported by the Gulf Stream to European shores where they arrive after a journey of 200-300 days. Arrivals are staggered from the beginning of winter in southern Europe to the beginning of the following summer in northern Europe. Subsequently, they transform into glass eels, i.e. small transparent eels 6 to 12 centimeters long, which remain for some time in the estuaries feeding on plankton. Then, they begin to gradually colonize rivers, lakes and other water bodies, progressively reaching the “yellow eel” stage.

When their weight reaches 50 grams, they are transferred either to extensive rearing basins or to large intensive rearing tanks that operate with water recirculation systems. In both cases, they are fed artificially with dry granulated food containing fishmeal and vegetable meal.

A major disadvantage of eels is that their growth rates vary greatly from one species to another. They must therefore be checked regularly and separated into tanks based on their size (classification). It takes two to three years for eels to reach adult size and be able to be marketed or reintroduced into the ecosystem. It is pointed out at this point that eel farms currently play a decisive role in the enrichment of waterways with eels, under scientific monitoring.

Mullet (Kefalos)

mulletThe mullet is a fish 30–70 cm long. It goes by many names depending on their age and variety. Such as sterids (that’s what the males are called), buffs (the egg-laying females), minnows, goldfinches, etc. Its official name is “Mugil the mullet” (Mugil cephalus) and it belongs to the “Mugilidae” family.

They have a lead-grey back, silvery flanks, and a silvery-white belly with dark brown lateral lines from the pectoral fins to the base of the tail. The golden one in particular has a golden seal above the arm-pads. In general, their body is long with a slightly broad spine covered with large scales. Their mouth is small with many fine teeth while their lips are thick and hard. The lower jaw forms a kind of triangle with the upper one very characteristic. It has two dorsal fins at a distance from each other, the first of which has 4 bony spines joined together by a membrane. The main two types are very easy to distinguish. The more common gray mullet has eyes covered with vertical lids that leave a thin slit in the pupil. This veil reaches up to the brachial covering. In contrast, the golden mullet does not have such a veil over its eyes.

Mullets live in schools mainly in shallow waters, in harbors, in lagoons and sometimes they go up rivers. Their main food is molluscs, small crustaceans and worms found in algae and near stones. Mullet reach adulthood at 6-8 years and goldfish at 4. They give birth in the sea from July to October. The common roe comes from the roe, while the mullets are used to make the famous smoked “nitika”, whose name reveals their origin from Ainitika, i.e. the city of Ainos, in Eastern Thrace. There are plenty of them in the Greek seas, especially in the lagoon of Messolonghi.

Gopa (Boops boops)

gopaGopa is a small fish of 20–35 cm in length and is related to the salpa, spar and sargo. This species belongs to the teleosts or bracts and has their general characteristics. Its official name is “Boops boops” (Boops boops), it is the ancient “Boops the genuine” and belongs to the Sparid family (Sparidae). Boops live hard on rocky shores and in seaweed, and are abundant in the Greek seas .Their meat is delicious despite their somewhat heavy smell.

The length of the fish can reach 35 cm. Its color is grey-blue on the back, a little lighter silver on the sides and belly and shiny. 4 yellow lines start behind the eyes and end at the root of the tail. It also bears a dark brown lateral line. The gopa’s head is about 1/4 of the total length of the fish. She has relatively large eyes at half the height of her head and hence she was called “woops” from the ancient Greek adjective “voopis” (= she who has big eyes (literally “she who has eyes like an ox”). Her muzzle is rounded and in its mouth, which is tilted upwards, has incisors on the upper jaw and fangs on the lower, although it is considered a herbivorous fish.

Sea bream (Tsipoura)

seabreamSea bream is a fish of the Sparidae family found in the Mediterranean and on the coasts of the North-East Atlantic. In terms of nutritional value, sea bream together with sea bass belong to the most valuable fish of the Mediterranean, as they are rich in ω-3 fatty acids. It is one of the main fish for fish farms and the most cultured species in the Mediterranean.

Sea bream are usually 35 cm long, although 70 cm long fish have been found. The heaviest bream ever caught weighed 17.2 kg. The longest recorded age of a bream is (in captivity) 11 years. It is silver in color with a distinctive black spot at the end of the gill cover. Also characteristic is the golden bow that joins the eyes, more pronounced in adult fish, and gave the bream the name “golden hair”. There is a red line at the border of the lower half of the gill-cover. The bream has a strongly curved profile, oval and tall body.

Sea bream is a common species in the Mediterranean and on the Atlantic coast from Great Britain to Senegal. It is found over sandy bottoms or bottoms with marine phanerogams, at depths of up to 30 meters, although adult bream have been observed at depths of 150 meters. In spring it approaches estuaries and lagoons. They are mainly carnivores, while they occasionally feed on plants. They feed on molluscs, including mussels and oysters. Sea bream form large or small flocks, while sometimes large females may be found hunting alone for a period.

Smelt (Atherina)

smeltSmelt is a small fish 8–15 cm long and very similar to the flounder. It is also called “souvlite”. Its official name is “Atherina hepsetus” and it belongs to the atherinidae family.
Its color is gray-green, slightly silvery with a black band on the sides that runs from head to tail. Her body is rounded from the head onwards.

It has relatively large eyes and a pointed snout, hence the name souvlite. Its scales are small and round with black spots. The pectoral fins are close and behind the gills, while the two dorsal fins are quite far apart. It is a type of foam (foam fish), it lives and moves diligently and its food is mostly plankton. During March, it approaches the coasts where it lays its eggs, which stick to stones and algae.
SmeltS are abundant in Greek waters, their meat is very tasty (especially when they are egged). Its variant is the somewhat larger, so-called “head” (atherina boyeri) up to 18 cm long with a round snout.

Sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax)

sea-bassThe sea bass is a fish of the Moronidae family, found in the Mediterranean and on the coasts of the North-East Atlantic. In terms of nutritional value, sea bass together with sea bream belong to the most valuable fish of the Mediterranean, as they are rich in ω-3 fatty acids. It is one of the main fish for fish farms.

Sea bass is considered an excellent fish in Greek cuisine, while it is also used for food by other peoples. It can be cooked in many ways, e.g. grilled, steamed, oven, etc.

Sea bass has a normal length of 40 to 65 cm and a weight of 5 to 7 kg, while it can reach a length of one meter and a weight of 15 kg. It has been recorded that it can live up to 15 years. His body is elongated. The name dicentrarchus has to do with the presence of two dorsal fins, the anterior triangular and the posterior trapezoidal. This species has a silver color, while the young fish have black spots on their backs and sides. Silver is slightly darker on the back and lighter on the belly (anti-shading effect)

Sea bass is a species of sea bass found in the Mediterranean, Black Sea and Atlantic from Norway to Senegal. It lives in coastal waters, at a depth of up to 100 meters.

Spotted weaver (Trachinus araneus)

Spotted-weaverSpotted weever is a fish that belongs to the trachinidae family, which includes 9 species. A characteristic species of the family is the large dragonfly. It is up to forty centimeters long and weighs up to two kilograms. They live mainly in deep, but also in shallow water, and are usually hidden under the sand.

She hunts fish, always smaller than her, usually at night, and feeds on them, after first biting and poisoning them with the liquid secreted by her spines (specifically seven spines). This poison, although not fatal, can become very dangerous in large quantities. The head of this species is small and its mouth has small teeth and slopes upwards. Her color, which is usually dark yellow, with gray from the back down, and some white on the belly, can help her hide in the sand and become one with it.

Cod (Bakaliaros)

codCod (or codfish) is a fish of the genus Gadus of the cod family, with the characteristic “ray fins”. Cooked it is considered a delicacy, while in Great Britain it is the most common fish in the popular “fish and chips” dish. It has a pleasant aroma, low fat, a lot of protein and dense white flesh, which peels easily. Cod liver oil, cod liver oil, is an important source of vitamins A, D, K and omega-3 fatty acids. It lives up to 15 years, its body length reaches up to 1m. 40 cm and its weight up to 15 kg. It is usually white or gray, but its color varies from brown to green or even red. It often has brownish or reddish spots, either on the body or on the head.

It is found mainly in northern countries and cold climates, especially in the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, but it is also found in the Pacific, West and South Africa and Argentina. However, the name comes from the Portuguese bacalhau, since the first to notice it were the Portuguese seafarers of the 16th century.

This species is caught mainly in the Atlantic, but also in the Mediterranean, with nets and longlines. The Mediterranean cod belongs to the large family of codfish (Merluccius merluccius vulgaris). It feeds on squids, anchovies, sardines, herrings, shrimps and other small sea creatures. It is usually found at 70-370 meters, but can actually live as deep as 303 to 1,000 meters. It lives on the bottom during the day and at night rises to surface sea currents.

Rofos (Rofos)

rofosRofos is a fish, belonging to the Percidae, its scientific name is Epinephelus marginatus – Epinephelus marginatus or Epinephelus guaza, or Serranus gigas, and it belongs to the Seranidae family. It is also called “orphos” and according to Aristotle “Orpho”. The sea bass is related to the perch and is very similar to the stira. It is a rockfish and frequents rocky bottoms and at depths of 5-300 meters. It is a large fish, its weight can reach up to 60 kg, (in the Greek seas up to 25 kg weight and 1.5 meters long), while its life span can reach up to 50 years. Its color is dark brown to black (depending on the morphology of the bottom where it lives) with yellow spots like clouds, for this reason it is also called “overcast”, i.e. cloud cover.

It is the dominant fish in the Mediterranean while it is also found in the Eastern Atlantic, the Western Indian Ocean in Mozambique, Madagascar, southern Brazil and from Uruguay to Argentina. He loves warm water. It is a very tasty type of fish known since ancient times. Rofos becomes a wonderful soup.

The ruff usually lives alone in rocky recesses (chambers) around which it roams. Only small ruffs live in herds. The roach is caught with a line or speargun and with a jig near its chamber. Bait is usually fish doli or boiled pure octopus meat (without the skin) or better live bait.

Saddled seabream (melanouri)

melanouriSaddled seabream (Melanouri) is a Mediterranean saltwater fish that belongs to the Sparidae family. It is the only species of the genus Oblada.
Its body is quite wide in the middle, its eyes are large with a diameter almost half the height of the head, and its mouth is slanted with thin lips and only front incisors with no other teeth.
The most common size is 300-400 grams, while sometimes it can exceed 700 grams. Its length is 34 cm and despite its small size compared to other fish, it can live 11 years and sometimes a little more.

Its color on the back is silver-brown or silver-blue, on the sides it is silver and on the belly it has about ten very thin long gray-black lines. When irritated its color darkens to brown and deep silver. At the base of the tail it has a wide black spot, almost closed like a ring between two narrower white spots.

Saddled seabreams are omnivores. Throughout the day, they move a lot in search of their food. At a young age, they feed on crustaceans and small invertebrates, as well as some species of zooplankton, while growing up they will enrich their diet with plant foods. We find them in shallow and deep waters, in small shoals on the bottom, in sands and seaweeds and near shore rocks.

Saddled seabreams are a dioecious species, that is, they have one sex throughout their life. However, there are also cases where it has been observed that they can change sex from female to male (but not the other way around), without an obvious cause being found. They give birth once a year, in the period from April to June.

Synagrida (Dentex dentex)

dentexThis fish is widespread in the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic from Great Britain to the Canary Islands. It has an elongated, laterally compressed body and reaches a length of 1 meter. Its back shows brown and bluish hues, while its sides and belly are silvery. Its head is relatively large and has prominent eyes. Its front teeth are strong and visible when the mouth is half closed. The single dorsal fin has spiny rays and a caudal fork. The wrasse is a carnivorous fish and feeds mainly on smaller fish as well as crustaceans and molluscs. It lives near the bottom and usually at a depth of less than 50 meters. The fish [1] that is often found in the Greek seas, is caught for its very tasty flesh. Other related species, smaller, such as Dentex macrophthalmus and Dentex maroccanus (Moroccan sandfish) are also found in the Greek seas.

The largest officially published fish measured one meter and weighed almost 15 kilograms. There are also reports of much larger fish, but they are not officially recorded. External characteristics: In the profile of the fish a gentle curve from the head ends in a lateral widening of the fish with an exquisite variety of colors. Blue, green and brown spots on a silver background and some brown vertical stripes several times complete the variation of this wonderful fish. Characteristic and noteworthy are the large fangs that the fish has.

The fish becomes reproductively mature after the end of the second year. It is a dioecious species, i.e. there are separate female and male fish without changing sex during their life (unlike some other species of the family, such as the sargos for example), except for some specimens that at young ages showed that they developed and the two reproductive systems (female and male, i.e. hermaphrodite), until they reach their final sex. The breeding season of the fish is from the end of March to the beginning of June, with a more intense period in the month of May.

From the external characteristics we can easily draw the conclusion that this species is a hunter and indeed relatively high in the food chain. The most prominent feature that indicates this is the fish’s distinctive large fangs. From the study of the jaws, and the teeth they bear, very useful conclusions about the diet of the organism and consequently also its behavior emerge.

Perch (Perka)

perchPerch, also known as Perka is a freshwater fish of the Percid family. These are freshwater fish of the temperate regions of Europe, Asia and North America. Its meat is delicious and does not have many bones.They have an elongated body, which is covered with ctenoid scales, and they have two dorsal fins, the first of which consists of spiny rays and the second of soft ones. They range in length from 15 to 60 cm and are usually green in color with dark transverse ribs and red ventral fins.

They live at all depths, but especially at a depth of 0.5-1m, solitary or in small groups. It is a voracious species and feeds on insects, fry and small fish. They lay their eggs in the spring, from March to May, as soon as the water reaches a temperature of 14oC. The eggs, two millimeters in diameter, are joined in chains and produced at a rate of 80,000-100,000 per kilogram of the mother’s weight.

A better-known related species is perca flavescens, known as yellow perch, which is found in America and is smaller in size, with a length that can reach 30 cm. Its body is golden with dark transverse stripes, its ventral and dorsal fins are orange and its mouth is wider. Under the common name of perch, two species of sea percomorph fish of the seranidae family are known in Greece, serranus scriba (perch) and serenatus hepatus. They are carnivorous fish that live at shallow depths, near the coasts of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, while they are also widespread in the Greek seas.

Tuna (Tonos)

tunaTuna fish is an Oceanic fish of the Scombridae family, mainly of the genus thunnus, are known as tuna. Tunas have a hydrodynamic and compact body and can reach great speeds, up to 70 kilometers per hour. Tuna meat is red, unlike other fish that have white meat. This shade is due to the presence of myoglobin in the tuna muscles. Myoglobin is an oxygen binding protein and tunas overexpress it. Some of the larger species of tuna have characteristics of warm-blooded organisms, as they can raise their body temperature to a greater value than the water surrounding them and thus can live in cold seas.

These fish are caught in all the world’s seas, with the result that several species are on the brink of extinction from overfishing and illegal fishing. The bluefin tuna, the largest species of tuna, is endangered. Bluefin tuna is considered a fine meze in Japan, where it is eaten raw as sushi. In the Mediterranean, their fishing is usually done with circular nets (grill nets). Tuna caught in these nets are then taken to fattening farms to grow and their meat to have a high fat content

Red porgy (Fagri)

Red-porgyThis fish belongs to the sparidae family and its scientific name is pagrus pagrus. Its body is oval compressed laterally. Its mouth has 4 canines in the upper jaw and 6 in the lower. Its dorsal fin is single with hard rays 12 in number. Its lateral fins are short. Its ventral fins are triangular in shape, its pedicle has 3 rays and its caudal fin is wide and forked. Its color is pink and its belly is white, while its back color darkens.

Its length reaches 80 cm and its weight up to 10 kg. This species lives in rocky bottoms and at a depth that varies depending on the season, in summer it is at 30 to 40 meters and in winter at 200 meters. It feeds on fish, molluscs and crustaceans. It is caught by wind trawlers and longlines. Its meat is excellent.

Sargo (Sargos)

sargosSargo (scientific name Diplodus sargus) is a small fish with a length of up to 45 cm, and a weight that sometimes exceeds two kilograms. Its scientific name is Diplodus sargus, and it belongs to the Perciformes order, in the Sparidae family.

The sargo also lives throughout the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, from the coast of France to South Africa. This species has 9 gray vertical lines on its sides that are not always easy to distinguish, but its special feature is a black spot at the base of the tail and a strong black shade at the end of the tail.
Sargo has palatable and tasty meat and is considered a first quality fish.

Sole (Glosa)

soleSole is a flat fish. It is found in sandy areas of the bottom and usually swims very close to the bottom, making it relatively difficult to spot. It is distinguished by size in large and small and by species in Solea common or Solea solea (Solea vulgaris or Solea solea) and Blonde sole or Yellow solea (Solea lutea) which both belong to the family “Soleidae”.

This species is born in a vertical orientation, like ordinary fish. Slowly it starts to tilt and rests on the bottom. The side that rests down becomes flat and white. The eye that is below, slowly moves and comes next to the one that was left above.
It is a particularly tasty fish and quite easy to eat because there are no bones left if you remove the central bone.