Sparus aurata - Gilthead Bream

Phylum: Chordata - Class: Actinopterygii - Order: Perciformes - Family: Sparidae

Gilthead bream

In France this sea fish is marketed as Dourade, and it is an expensive luxury food. In Wales gilthead bream can be found all around the shores, but most particularly in the south.

Fish to more than 3lb (1.4kg) are sometimes caught by anglers, although the average is usually around 1 to 2lb (0.5 to 1kg).

The gold spot just behind the gill cover is the main distinguishing feature of the gilthead bream.


Excited at the prospect of flyfishing? So are we, and we're pretty sure you would find the Winding River Mystery trilogy of action-packed thrillers gripping reading too. Dead Drift, Dead Cert, and Dead End are Pat O'Reilly's latest river-and-flyfishing based novels, and now they are available in ebook format. Full details on our website here...

Buy each volume in ebook format for only £2.47 on Amazon... Paperbacks also available on Amazon at £5.45 each. All proceeds go towards keeping the First Nature website online.


Please Help Us: If you have found this information interesting and useful, please consider helping to keep First Nature online by making a small donation towards the web hosting and internet costs.

Any donations over and above the essential running costs will help support the conservation work of Plantlife, the Rivers Trust and charitable botanic gardens - as do author royalties and publisher proceeds from books by Pat and Sue.