It is a highly valued food fish and is an important target species for fisheries and the population has shown large declines leading the International Union for Conservation of Nature to classify its conservation status as Vulnerable.

[4] The genus Dentex is placed in the family Sparidae within the order Spariformes by the 5th edition of Fishes of the World.

[9] The dorsal profile of the head is smoothly rounded in adults but nearly straight in juveniles and is slightly convex in the largest specimens.

[2] The common dentex is found in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean between the Bay of Biscay and Ras Nouadhibouin Mauritania, as well as the Canaries and Madeira.

[8] The common dentex is an active predator, feeding on other fish, mollusca and cephalopods.

[1] This species is caught using bottom trawls, lines, fish traps and sometimes trammel nets.

Bosnia and Herzegovina and Spain have reported producing this fish in aquaculture to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).