Genus synonymy Species synonymy The salema porgy (Sarpa salpa), also known as the dreamfish, salema, cow bream, karanteen, salpa, saupe, strepie or goldline, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sparidae, which includes the seabreams and porgies.

The salema porgy was first formally described as Sparus salpa in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, no type locality was given but it is presumed to be the Mediterranean.

[8] The salema porgy has a moderately slender, neatly oval body which has a depth which fits into its standard length 2.8 times.

[1] Salema porgies are largely vegetarian; a study in Libya found that sea grass dominated the diet, with algae being the second most important item and crustaceans the third.

[13] Off Corsica, the seagrass Posidonia oceanica and its epiphytes were found to be the main food of adults while the juveniles were plankton eaters.

[14] Off South Africa spawning takes place between April and September and there is an annual migration between nursery areas in the Eastern and Western Cape to KwaZulu-Natal.

[17] The vegetarian diet of the saupe [citation needed], its modest size and its living areas also make it not very vulnerable to fishing with a net or harpoon.

[21] Since the accidental introduction of Caulerpa taxifolia into the Mediterranean, the saupe has tended to accumulate in its body the toxins produced by this alga.