DISTRIBUTION MAP

DISTRIBUTION

Distributed along the North-east Atlantic from North Sea and west of the British Islands to West Africa. Also found in the Mediterranean Sea.

ECOLOGY

Inhabits various types of bottoms, mostly sandy and seagrass beds down to 500 m below the surface. Omnivorous but feeds mainly on worms, molluscs and crustaceans.

FISHERIES

Caught mainly by vessels using bottom trawl, longlines and gill nets.

DID YOU KNOW

This species is a protandric hermaphrodite – it begins male and between ages of 2 and 7 it becomes female.