The specific name, maena, is a latinisation of maenis an Ancient Greek name for picarels, dating from at least the time of Aristotle.

[12] Spicara maena is a gregarious fish that moves in schools and feeds on small benthic invertebrates[11] and zooplankton.

[12] In a study in the Gulf of İzmir in the Aegean Sea by Soykan and colleagues it was found that there are almost five times as many females as males and that the change of sex on average takes place within the length range 14.5 to 15 cm (5.7 to 5.9 in) and that all fish longer than 18 cm (7.1 in) are male.

[13] The females become mature at the age of two years and spawning takes place between March and June in the Aegean,[3] and between August and October further west in the Mediterranean.

The male digs a hollow on the seabed and the female lays eggs with a sticky surface in this nest.