Species sheet · The Edible Ocean

Brown meagre

It would rather you looked somewhere else.

Baked Provençal-style
Poached with a sauce vierge
Grilled, where local rules allow it

Brown meagre in its natural habitat, Umay image — *Sciaena umbra* · Umay image, generated from a reference photograph — Arnaud Abadie, CC BY-SA 3.0

Protected species

It is eaten in some cultures. It is also a protected species, and we have no wish to encourage that.

In French: Corb
Scientific name: Sciaena umbra
Status: Protected species
In the water: Caves and drop-offs of the Mediterranean, from the shore to 200 metres, motionless by day.
Season & buying: Fishing it is restricted or banned depending on the Mediterranean area.
Common length: ~35 cm
How to identify it: Strongly arched back and short snout
Two-part dorsal fin with a deep notch
Almost black body, golden pelvic fins

On the plate

White, delicate flesh, once highly prized along the Provençal coast.

Avoid: Taking it at all. Its populations are fragmented and slow to recover.

The brown meagre sings. It vibrates its swim bladder into a low drumming that carries underwater, and that sound is how fishermen located it for centuries.