Painted comber

{{Short description|Species of fish}} {{Speciesbox | image = Serranidae - Serranus scriba.JPG | image_caption = Painted comber (''Serranus scriba'') | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Smith-Vaniz, W.F. |date=2015 |title=''Serranus scriba'' |volume=2015 |article-number=e.T198713A42691914 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T198713A42691914.en |access-date=20 November 2021}}</ref> | taxon = Serranus scriba | authority = (Linnaeus, 1758) | synonyms = *''Perca scriba'' Linnaeus, 1758 *''Paracentropristis scriba'' (Linnaeus, 1758) *''Perca marina'' Linnaeus, 1758 *''Holocentrus maroccanus'' Bloch & Schneider, 1801 *''Holocentrus argus'' Spinola, 1807 *''Serranus papilionaceus'' Valenciennes, 1832 | synonyms_ref = <ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase|Serranus|scriba|month=December|year=2019}}</ref> }}

The '''painted comber''' ('''''Serranus scriba''''') is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a sea bass from the subfamily Serraninae, classified as part of the family Serranidae which includes the groupers and anthias. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea. Confusingly, a synonym of this species is ''Perca marina'', but that name (as ''Sebastes marinus'') has incorrectly been used for a separate species, the rose fish.

==Description== [[File:Serranus scriba Koufonissi.png|left|thumb|Painted comber in Koufonisi, Greece]] The painted comber has a laterally compressed,<ref name = canary>{{Cite web | url = https://www.diving-canary-islands.com/en/painted-comber-serranus-scriba/ | title = Painted Comber – Serranus scriba | access-date = 9 September 2020 | publisher = Ronny Kreuzberg | work = Diving Canary Islands}}</ref> elongate body with a pointed snout. The dorsal fin has 10 spines and 4–16 soft rays and the anal fin has 3 spines and 7–8 soft rays. The caudal fin is truncate.<ref name = MSIP>{{cite web | url = http://species-identification.org/species.php?species_group=fnam&id=1881&menuentry=soorten | title = ''Serranus scriba'' | work = Fishes of NE Atlantic and the Mediterranean | author = J.C. Hureau | access-date = 9 September 2020 | publisher = Marine Species Identification Portal}}</ref> It has a very large mouth for its size, which has many sharp teeth,<ref name = Atlantis>{{cite web | url = https://www.atlantisgozo.com/serranus-scriba-painted-comber/ | title = ''Serranus scriba'' (Painted Comber) | date = 31 January 2017 | access-date = 9 September 2020 | publisher = Atlantis Diving Center}}</ref> and is protractile.<ref name = Monaco>{{cite web | url = https://www.monaconatureencyclopedia.com/serranus-scriba/?lang=en | title = ''Serranus scriba'' | access-date = 9 September 2020 | publisher = Monaco Nature Centre | author = Giuseppe Mazza}}</ref> The overall colour may be grey, purplish or reddish with 5–7 dark brown bars on the flanks. The head is marked with many narrow, wavy blue lines and red blotches. The dorsal, anal and caudal fins are marked with red dots.<ref name = MSIP/> There is a diffuse, purplish-blue blotch in the middle of the body.<ref name = Monaco/> The pelvic and pectoral fins are normally uniform pale yellow.<ref name = Atlantis/> The maximum recorded fish measurement is {{convert|36|cm|in}}, although {{convert|25|cm|in}} is more typical.<ref name = Fishbase/>

==Distribution== The painted comber is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean where its core range extends from the Straits of Gibraltar to Senegal, including the Canary Islands but it occurs as far north as the Bay of Biscay. Its range extends into the Mediterranean and Black Seas. One of the most abundant places for Painted Comber is Marmaris.<ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021" />

==Habitat and biology== The painted comber occurs over rocky bottom and among beds of ''Posidonia'' at depths of {{convert|5|to|150|m|ft}}.<ref name = Fishbase/> It normally spends the day sheltering in rocky caves and is normally either solitary or found in small groups. It emerges at dusk to hunt.<ref name = Atlantis/> It is a carnivorous species which is a territorial ambush hunter and has a diet made up of cephalopods, bivalves, crustaceans, fishes, and worms.<ref name = Monaco/> It is often used to indicate sites occupied by octopuses as it waits at the entrance scavenging the octopus's discarded parts of shellfish.<ref name = Atlantis/> The spawning season runs from late spring to early summer with the eggs being laid under stones near the shore.<ref name = canary/> It is a synchronous hermaphrodite, i.e. each individual has both male and female gonads and may be capable of self-fertilisation. They have a maximum life expectancy of 16 years.<ref name = Monaco/> thumb|250px|Drawing of a "Lettered Serramus" from ''The natural history of fishes of the perch family'' - ''The Naturalist's Library'', 1835 thumb|View from the top

== Parasites == The painted comber, like most fishes, is host to a variety of internal and external parasites and these include the copepods ''Lernanthropus scribae'', ''Caligus scribae'' and ''Anchistrotos laqueus''; an isopod ''Gnathia sp.''; a monogenean ''Protolamellodiscus serranelli''; and two species of digeneans ''Helicometra fasciata'' and ''Lecithochirium musculus''.<ref name = CANL>{{cite web | author1 = Chaabane, Amira | author2 = Neifar, Lassad | name-list-style=amp | year = 2014 | title = Utilisation des parasites pour l'évaluation de l'impact des pêcheries côtières sur les populations du serran ''Serranus scriba'' (Pisces, Téléostéen). Poster presented at Congress of Société Française de Parasitologie, Reims, France, 21-22 Mai 2014 | doi = 10.6084/m9.figshare.1086170 | url = https://figshare.com/articles/Utilisation_des_parasites_pour_l_valuation_de_l_impact_des_p_cheries_c_ti_res_sur_les_populations_du_serran_Serranus_scriba_Pisces_T_l_ost_en_/1086170/1 | language = fr}}</ref>

==Taxonomy== The painted comber was first formally described by Linnaeus in the 10th Edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' published in 1758 as ''Perca scriba''.<ref name = CofF>{{Cof record | spid = 20946 | title = ''Perca scriba'' | access-date = 9 September 2019}}</ref>

==Human use== The painted comber is landed by artisanal fisheries using hook and line and trawls.<ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021" /> It is said to have palatable flesh and can be prepared using a variety of cooking methods.<ref name = seafishing>{{cite web | url = http://www.seafishinghowto.com/marine-species/fish/painted-comber-serranus-scriba.html | title = Painted Comber - Serranus Scriba | access-date = 9 September 2020 | publisher = eaFishingHowTo.com}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}} *{{ITIS |id=167862 |taxon=''Serranus scriba'' |accessdate=June 3, 2007}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Serranus scriba}} {{Wikispecies|Serranus scriba}} * {{SealifePhotos|127043}}

painted comber Category:Fauna of Macaronesia Category:Marine fish of North Africa Category:Fish of the Mediterranean Sea Category:Fish of the Black Sea painted comber painted comber