Comber
Fish · Last reviewed 2026-08-23
A small, boldly barred sea bass of rock and rubble from the English Channel to South Africa, hermaphroditic in both directions at once, and the fish that takes the bait meant for something better.
Safety: injury while handling fish — minor injury.
Catching Comber
Everything here on fishing for it. Each entry opens the page behind it.
- Ground
- When
- May — months recorded at the places that document it, not a season for the whole range.
- Where
- 19 places FishingHQ documents — strongest claim anywhere: recorded here · From the shore
The cabrilla is a miniature sea bass, and it behaves like one. It is a slim, big-mouthed fish marked with seven or so dark vertical bars over a brown or reddish ground, with orange and blue lines along the head, and it sits in holes, under ledges and among rubble waiting for something to pass.
For an angler it is the fish that finds the bait first. Drop a strip of squid or a worm onto Canarian or Mediterranean rock and a cabrilla will usually take it before anything larger does, which makes it simultaneously the most reliable fish on the mark and the reason bigger baits get used.
Its biology is unusual even among the sea basses. It is a simultaneous hermaphrodite: an individual carries functional male and female tissue at the same time, rather than changing from one to the other as the sparids around it do. It is also far more wide-ranging and far deeper-living than its size suggests, recorded from the English Channel round the Cape of Good Hope to Natal and down to 500 m.
How it is caught
Where Comber is documented
Places where public sources describe this species as fished, with how it is fished and how strongly the evidence supports it. This is not a range map and it is not a recommendation — it is what has been written down about a fishery rather than a record of any individual catch, and being listed is never permission to fish.
Canary Islands
11 documented places
- El Confital · Rock platformRecorded here · from the shore
- The La Aldea coast · Cliff coastRecorded here · from the shore
- Ajuy · CoveRecorded here · from the shore
6 more places here
- Puerto del Rosario · Harbour wallRecorded here · from the shore
- Tazacorte and Puerto Naos · Harbour wallRecorded here · from the shore
- Santa Cruz de La Palma · Harbour wallRecorded here · from the shore
- Valle Gran Rey · Harbour wallRecorded here · from the shore
- Playa de Santiago · Harbour wallRecorded here · from the shore
- San Sebastián de La Gomera · Harbour wallRecorded here · from the shore
Lanzarote
5 documented places
- Puerto del Carmen harbour, Lanzarote · Harbour wallRecorded here · from the shore · around May to May
- Órzola · Harbour wallRecorded here · from the shore
- Arrieta and the Jameos coast · Rock platformRecorded here · from the shore
2 more places here
- Papagayo and Playa Blanca · CoveRecorded here · from the shore
- El Golfo and Janubio · Rock platformRecorded here · from the shore
Tenerife
3 documented places
- Garachico · Rock platformRecorded here · from the shore
- Bajamar · Rock platformRecorded here · from the shore
- The El Sauzal coast · Cliff coastRecorded here · from the shore
What these strengths mean
- Recorded here
- At least one credible public account of this species being caught here. That is all it means.
Identification
No photograph of Comber has passed identity review yet, so none is shown. A photograph is published only once somebody has checked the animal in it against the diagnostic features described on this page.
- Scientific name
- Serranus cabrilla
- Family
- Serranidae
- Water
- Saltwater
- Conservation status
- Least Concern
- Regions
- Mediterranean, Western Europe, Britain & Ireland, West Africa, East & Southern Africa
- Seven or so dark vertical bars over a brown, reddish or fawn ground, crossed by paler horizontal banding.
- Orange and blue-white lines running diagonally along the head and cheek.
- A large mouth and a pointed head for the size of fish — the outline of a bass rather than a bream.
- Single long dorsal with ten spines, and a squared-off tail.
Size
- Typical
- 80–250 g (3–9 oz)
- Large
- 300–500 g (11 oz–1.1 lb)
Exceptional: FishBase records a maximum of 40 cm
Lifecycle and reproduction
Demersal over an unusually wide depth range of about 5 to 500 m, holding to rock, rubble, seagrass and reef throughout. Medium resilience.
A simultaneous hermaphrodite: an individual carries functional male and female tissue at the same time. This is different from the sequential sex change of the sparids on the same ground and is worth knowing precisely because the two are easily conflated.
Feeding and senses
An ambush predator at small scale, taking crustaceans, small fish and worms from a lie among rock and rubble. It is quick to the bait, which is why it dominates catches on light tackle over rock.
Visual and very quick to movement, hunting from a lie in cover rather than in open water. It reacts to a bait landing faster than the larger fish on the same ground, which is the whole reason it dominates light-tackle catches over rock.
Through the year
Resident year-round over rock without a significant seasonal migration, which is part of why it is the most consistently encountered fish on Canarian and Mediterranean rock in any month of the year.
Distribution
Eastern Atlantic: English Channel southward round the Cape of Good Hope to Natal, South Africa, including Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands. Also in the Mediterranean and western Black Sea and possibly in the Red Sea
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
The commonest small predator on Canarian and Mediterranean rock and the fish most likely to take a bait intended for a bream or a porgy. Its significance to an angler is diagnostic as much as sporting: a session dominated by cabrilla usually means the bait is too small or too far off the bottom for what was actually being fished for.
Handling and returning
Spiny dorsal and sharp gill-cover edges on a fish small enough to be handled carelessly. Grip across the body and unhook with a disgorger; deep-hooked fish on small baits are common.
Safety
Injury while handling fish — Minor injury
Stiff dorsal spines and a sharp bony edge to the gill cover, both easy to catch a hand on when unhooking a small fish quickly.
What reduces it: Hold across the body from behind with the dorsal folded, keep fingers clear of the gill cover, and use a disgorger.
Where to go next
Similar and related fish
- Blacktail comberThe pair the directorate's own table separates in adjacent rows.
- Butterfly-winged comberTwo of the three Canary serranids an angler meets. `Cabrilla` may mean either.
Where it lives
- Rocky shores and reefsHolds in holes and under ledges and ambushes from them, which is why it is first to the bait.
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 Serranus cabrilla.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 Serranus cabrilla, assessed 10 May 2013.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Canary Islands regional angling guidance sites — Various Canary-based angling and island guidance publishers (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Which species Canary shore anglers target from rock, mole and beach, with the techniques and baits the Spanish-language regional guidance describes.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
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.
Blacktail comber
The Canary size table gives `cabrilla, cabrilla rubia` for Serranus cabrilla and `cabrilla, cabrilla reina` for Serranus atricauda, with a different minimum size for each. FishBase separates them on size, maximum age and colour: 43.2 cm and 16 years against a slimmer, finely lined fish.
- 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
Butterfly-winged comber
Serranus papilionaceus is boldly barred and reaches 36 cm; Serranus cabrilla is finely lined in orange and blue along the head and flank. Both occur on Canarian rock and both are called cabrilla in Spanish-language material.
- 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.
Light rock fishing
Cabrilla is the commonest small predator over Canarian and Mediterranean rock and dominates light-tackle catches there. A session dominated by it usually means the bait is too small or too far off the bottom for what was being fished for.
- 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 shore 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.
Rocky shores and reefs
Serranus cabrilla is recorded as demersal over a very wide depth range, from about 5 m to 500 m, holding to rock, rubble and reef throughout — an unusually broad vertical range for a fish this size.
- 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 Serranus cabrilla.States this directlyPassage read and verified
How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy.