ABSTRACT
The European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax (Linnaeus 1758)) is among the most abundant and exploited fi sh species found off European coasts. It is also one of the more productive species in aquaculture with 125,901 T/year and a fi shing yield of 10,817 T/year in 2010 (FAO 2013). This production is increasing each year; Haffray et al. (2007) reported 70,000 T/year from aquaculture and a fi shing yield of around 10,000 T/year. As a consequence, it is one of the most studied species of fi sh. The published papers on its physiology, reproduction and feeding reach 6,754 items in ISI journals at a publication rate of 500 papers per year (Web of Knowledge 23/08/2012). However, most of these works respond to laboratory experiments and observations on cultured individuals and very scarce information can be found on wild individuals and the ecology of the species in the natural environment or its role in the marine ecosystem (see Pickett and Pawson 1994, Pawson and Pickett 1996).
