Fish of the Lithognathus genus of the Sparidae (sea breams or porgies) family of the superfamily Percoidea of the Percoidei suborder of the Perciformes order of the Acanthopterygii superorder.
(Sand steenbras. Photo by © Rui Patricio Freitas. fishbase.org)
Sand steenbras (Lithognathus mormyrus) was first described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778).
It inhabits the depths of up to 150 meters, usually – 10-20 meters. It prefers to swim close to the sandy and oozy bottom, as well as in thickets of algae and sea grass. It is a schooling species. The maximum recorded length is 55 cm, specimens up to 30 cm long are more common. The maximum weight is about 1 kilogram. It feeds on worms, mollusks and small crustaceans.
(Sand steenbras. Photo by © Roberto Pillon. naturamediterraneo.com)
It is a permanent inhabitant of the Adriatic Sea.
Names of sand steenbras (Lithognathus mormyrus) in other languages as follows:
Murra (Albanian), Дребна пясъчна риба (Drebna pjasichna riba) (Bulgarian), Zandsteenbaars (Dutch), Μουρμούρα (Murmura) (Greek), Vardit hashaish (Hebrew), Herrera (Spanish), Mormora (Italian), Marmorbrasse (German), Morlesz pręgowany (Polish), Besugo dova (Portuguese), Атлантическая мормора (Atlanticheskaja mormora) (Russian), Ovčica, Mrmor, Mormora (Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian), Mırmır (Turkish), Marbré (French).