Juveniles form schools and feed on invertebrates, while adults are less social and prefer to consume other fish.

They are generally found in the littoral zone near the banks of rivers, lagoons, and estuaries during the summer and migrate offshore during the winter.

It is a sought-after gamefish and is listed as Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature[4] due to a decreasing population.

The European seabass was first described in 1758 by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in his work Systema Naturae.

In the century and a half following, it was classified under a variety of new synonyms, with Dicentrarchus labrax winning out as the accepted name in 1987.

[5] M. mississippiensis M. chrysops M. americana M. saxatillis D. punctatus D. labrax There are two genetically distinct populations of wild European seabass.

The two populations are separated by a relatively narrow distance in a region known as the Almeria-Oran oceanographic front, located east of the Spanish city of Almería.

The exact reason for this separation is unknown, as the geographic divide should not account for the lack of gene flow between the two populations.

The larval stage of the European seabass can last up to 3 months, during which it cannot swim well, and even a small amount of water flow should transport some individuals between the two regions.

[7] European seabass habitats include estuaries, lagoons, coastal waters, and rivers.

Historically, they were cultured in coastal lagoons and tidal reservoirs before mass-production techniques were developed in the late 1960s.