Common Pandora (Pagellus erythrinus)

The common pandora (Pagellus erythrinus) is a fish of the Sparidae family (sea bream). It is a popular food fish in Mediterranean countries, with delicate white flesh.

It has a slim, oval fusiform body, with a smallish mouth and scales covering its face. The eyes are smaller than those of Pagellus bogaraveo and Pagellus acarne. It is silver in colour with a pink tinge, particularly on its back. A typical specimen measures 10–30 cm, but it can reach as much as 50 cm in length.

The common pandora is a hermaphrodite, spending the first two years of its life as a female, and the third year as a male. It is omnivorous, but mainly feeds on smaller fish and benthic invertebrates.

As most fishes, the common pandora harbours a variety of parasites. Philometra filiformis is a parasite nematode of the ovary of this fish.