Blotched Picarel Spicara maena

Picarels were moved from their own family to the bream and porgy family in 2014. The Blotched Picarel is native to the northeastern Atlantic from Portugal to Morocco, including the Mediterranean and Black Seas and the Canary Islands. It is a silvery blue colour with neon blue highlights, males more colourful when spawning, and with a black blotch in the middle of each flank differentiating it from the similar Common Picarel. It grows to some 20-25cm long. All are born female and change to male later in life after reaching 20-21cm long.