Axillary seabream
Fish · Last reviewed 2026-08-25
A small pink Pagellus with a dark mark in the pectoral axil — and the reason `besugo` cannot be trusted to mean the same fish in the Canaries as on the mainland.
Catching Axillary seabream
Everything here on fishing for it. Each entry opens the page behind it.
- Ground
Three Pagellus are met regularly by anglers in the eastern Atlantic and their names cross over badly. *Pagellus erythrinus*, the common pandora, is the Canarian `breca`. This is *Pagellus acarne*, which the Canary fisheries directorate lists as `aligote` in Spanish and `besugo` in Canarian.
That second name is a trap, and it is on the same page as the trap it springs. `Besugo` in mainland Spain means *Pagellus bogaraveo*, the blackspot seabream — a bigger, deeper-water, considerably more valuable fish, which appears in the very same directorate table under its own row as a European-rule species. In the Canaries, `besugo` is this smaller fish. A source that says besugo is not saying which one it means unless you know where it was written.
The fish is a modest, pretty sparid: pinkish to silvery with a rosy back, reaching a FishBase maximum of 36 cm, and carrying a distinctive dark blotch in the axil of the pectoral fin — the hollow where the fin joins the body — which is exactly what its English name refers to and the quickest way to be sure of it. It lives from the surface to 500 m and usually between 40 and 100 m, from the Bay of Biscay to Senegal including Madeira, the Canaries and Cape Verde, with occasional records as far north as Denmark.
It takes small baits on the bottom over sand, mud and mixed ground, and it belongs to the same deeper bottom-fishing that the large-eye dentex does rather than to the harbour wall — though its shallow range does reach a deep shore mark.
Identification
No photograph of Axillary seabream has passed identity review yet, so none is shown. FishingHQ publishes a species photograph only once somebody has confirmed the animal in it against the species record’s own diagnostic features.
- Scientific name
- Pagellus acarne
- Family
- Sparidae
- Water
- Saltwater
- Conservation status
- Least Concern
- Regions
- Western Europe, Mediterranean, West Africa, North Africa, Britain & Ireland
- A dark blotch in the AXIL of the pectoral fin — the hollow where the fin meets the body — which is where the English name comes from and the surest single character.
- Pinkish silver with a rosy back, and a modest, evenly proportioned sparid body.
- The common pandora, Pagellus erythrinus, is more strongly red and lacks the axillary blotch.
- The blackspot seabream, Pagellus bogaraveo, carries a dark spot at the START of the lateral line behind the gill cover, not in the pectoral axil, and grows much larger.
- FishBase records a maximum of 36 cm.
Size
- Typical
- 150–400 g (5–14 oz)
- Large
- 500–700 g (1.1–1.5 lb)
Exceptional: FishBase records a maximum of 36 cm
Lifecycle and reproduction
Benthopelagic and oceanodromous over a depth range of 0 to 500 m and usually 40 to 100 m, over sand, mud and mixed ground. Medium resilience. It shoals rather than holding to structure.
Not detailed on the FishBase record. Protandry — maturing male and changing to female — is recorded in the genus, and it is not asserted here about this species without the source to carry it.
Feeding and senses
Takes small crustaceans, worms and molluscs from and just above soft and mixed ground. It is a small-mouthed bottom feeder, so hook and bait size govern the catch: it is caught on the same tackle as a pandora and lost on anything scaled for a dentex.
Sight and smell over the bottom in moderate depth. In the deeper part of its range scent does more of the work than sight, which is why baited bottom rigs outfish lures for it.
Through the year
Present year-round across most of its range, shoaling shallower in the warmer months. It reaches the British Isles rarely and Denmark only occasionally.
Distribution
Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea: Bay of Biscay to Senegal, Madeira, the Canary Islands, Cape Verde; rare in the British Isles but recorded occasionally off Denmark. Azores
This is a biological range — where the species occurs, not a prediction that you will catch one. To browse the fishing geography FishingHQ holds, start at fishing places.
Why anglers care
A standard component of the Canary and Iberian bottom-fishing catch, taken on small baited hooks over sand and mixed ground from a boat and from the deepest shore marks. Its main significance is as a name: `besugo` means this fish in the Canaries and a different, larger, more valuable fish on the Spanish mainland, so the word alone tells a reader nothing without knowing where it was written.
Handling and returning
Small, spiny-dorsaled and easily damaged. Fold the dorsal and grip across the flank, unhook with pliers, and note that fish from the deeper part of its range come up with barotrauma and are frequently not releasable.
Where to go next
Similar and related fish
Where it lives
More fish
Not related to this page — just the rest of the section. There is little else joined to this subject yet, and a short page should still lead somewhere.
Sources and evidence
- FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Family, maximum size, depth range, environment, distribution and the IUCN assessment for Pagellus acarne.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature (Conservation authority)Relied on for: The Least Concern assessment for Pagellus acarne, assessed 17 August 2009.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Tallas mínimas de captura — Canarias: minimum landing sizes and closed seasons — Gobierno de Canarias, Consejería de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca — Dirección General de Pesca, with the Grupo de Acción Costera de Tenerife and the Cabildo de Tenerife (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: That the Canary fisheries directorate regulates the recreational landing of this species and therefore treats it as quarry, and the Canarian common name it publishes beside the scientific name.States this directlyPassage read and verified
Why the 4 connections on this page are here, and the sources
Similar and related fish
Backed by research — 2 connections
Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.
Blackspot seabream
Pagellus bogaraveo carries a dark blotch at the START of the lateral line behind the gill cover and reaches 70 cm and 4 kg; Pagellus acarne carries its mark in the pectoral AXIL and reaches 36 cm. The Canary fisheries directorate calls P. acarne `besugo`; on the Spanish mainland that word means P. bogaraveo, which appears in the same table under community rules.
- FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: The morphology, size, depth range and distribution that separate these two species from one another.States this directlyPassage read and verified
Common pandora
Pagellus acarne carries a dark blotch in the axil of the pectoral fin; Pagellus erythrinus is more strongly red and lacks it. The Canary directorate calls the first besugo and the second breca, which is not what either word means on the Spanish mainland.
- FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: The morphology, size, depth range and distribution that separate these two species from one another.States this directlyPassage read and verified
How it is caught
What experienced anglers do — 1 connection
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
Deep-drop fishing
A small-mouthed bottom feeder over sand and mixed ground in the same depth band the Canary bottom-fishing modality works. Hook size rather than bait choice governs whether it is caught.
- Canary Islands regional angling guidance sites — Various Canary-based angling and island guidance publishers (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Canary shore angling practice: the techniques and tackle used from rock, mole and beach, and the species each is used for.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Guías de zonas de pesca en Canarias — Tenerife, Gran Canaria y Lanzarote — GuíaCanarias (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: The techniques named for Canarian fishing — rockfishing, jigging, light bottom fishing and squid jigs — and the species attached to them.States this directlyPassage read and verified
Where it lives
Backed by research — 1 connection
Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.
Inshore ground
Recorded as benthopelagic and oceanodromous over a depth range of 0 to 500 m and usually 40 to 100 m, over soft and mixed bottom.
- FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Environment, depth range, habitat association and distribution for Pagellus acarne.States this directlyPassage read and verified
How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy.