The Sea Bream Family and the Picareis

The family Sparidae is a large one. Twenty-one species are listed in the FAO catalogue, and twenty-two by UNESCO, as occurring in the Mediterranean.

No single English or French name covers the whole lot, but sea bream and brème de mer would be the least misleading collective names to use. To distinguish successfully between all of them, one has to study their teeth, but for practical purposes it is sufficient to know the size and colouring of the species most often met, and the variations which they display of the standard bream shape (ovale, allongé, comprimé, as the French put it). The big members of the family are the dentex and the pagre. The little one is the pataclé. The best to eat are the daurade and the dentex.