Yellowback Bream, Dentex spariformis Ogilby 1910

Other Names: Cape Moreton Sea Bream, Deepsea Snapper, Saffron Seabream, Saffronfin Sea Bream, Yellowback Seabream

Yellowback Bream, Dentex spariformis. Source: Australian National Fish Collection, CSIRO. License: CC BY Attribution-Noncommercial

Summary:

A pinkish-orange to orange-brown seabream with a silvery belly, reddish-orange dorsal, anal and caudal fins, and three indistinct yellow blotches on the back. The head profile is noticeably rounded in front of the eyes.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2025, Dentex spariformis in Fishes of Australia, accessed 17 Jun 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2510

Yellowback Bream, Dentex spariformis Ogilby 1910

More Info

Distribution	Perth area, Western Australia, around the tropical north to off Bate Bay, New South Wales. Elsewhere the species occurs in Bali, and Lombok Island, and the Arafura Sea, Indonesia, at depths between ca. 100 and 264 m.
Features	Dorsal fin XII, 10; Anal fin III, 8; Pectoral fin 15-16. Orbit diameter large, 2.37-3.39 in head length; snout angle sharp, range 69°-84°.
Colour	Body light pinkish-red with silvery reflection; eye colour generally pinkish-gold or with silver sheen (lower part yellowish in some specimens); prominent yellow blotch absent from anterior nostril and snout region; dorsal fin rays saffron-yellow on membrane and rays. Upper part of pectoral-fin rays saffron-yellow or pale yellow; anal fin membrane and rays pale saffron-yellow; caudal fin membrane and rays mostly saffron to pale yellow. The species lacks obvious blue-spotted lines, yellow blotches and wide longitudinal purplish-silver stripes between each horizontal scale row below lateral line.
Fisheries	Taken as bycatch in the deep water trawl fishery off northwestern Australia. The species also forms part of the demersal scalefish fishery in Western Australia.
Etymology	The specific name is from Sparus, the type genus of the family Sparidae, and formis (= shape), prehaps alluding to the Sparus-like shape of this species.
Species Citation	Dentex spariformis Ogilby, 1910, Endeavour Series No. 1 23: 91. Type locality: off Cape Moreton, Queensland (lectotype).
Author	Bray, D.J. 2025
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Yellowback Bream, Dentex spariformis Ogilby 1910

References

Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. 106 pls. (as Dentex tumifrons)

Allen, G.R. & Swainston, R. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A field guide for anglers and divers. Perth, WA : Western Australian Museum vi 201 pp., 70 pls.

Carpenter, K.E. 2001. Sparidae, Lethrinidae. pp. 2990-3050 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 5 2791-3379 pp.

Fowler, H. W. 1933. Contributions to the biology of the Philippine Archipelago and adjacent regions. The fishes of the families Banjosidae, Lethrinidae, Sparidae, Girellidae, Kyphosidae, Oplegnathidae, Gerridae, Mullidae, Emmelichthyidae, Sciaenidae, Sillaginidae, Arripidae, and Enoplosidae collected by the United States Bureau of Fisheries steamer “Albatross”, chiefly in Philippine seas and adjacent waters. Bulletin of the United States Natural History Museum 100: i-vi 1-465

Gloerfelt-Tarp, T. & Kailola, P.J. 1984. Trawled Fishes of Southern Indonesia and Northwest Australia. Jakarta : Dir. Gen. Fish. (Indonesia), German Tech. Coop., Aust. Dev. Ass. Bur. 406 pp. (as Dentex tumifrons)

Hutchins, J. B. 2001. Checklist of the fishes of Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 63: 9-50 (as Allotaius spariformis)

Iwatsuki, Y., Akazaki, M. & Taniguchi, N. 2007. Review of the species of the genus Dentex (Perciformes:Sparidae) in the Western Pacific defined as the D. hypselosomus complex with the description of a new species, Dentex abei and a redescription of Evynnis tumifrons. Bulletin of the National Museum of Natural Science, Series A Suppl.1: 29-49.

Iwatsuki, Y., Russell, B., Pollard, D., Mann, B.Q., Carpenter, K.E. & Buxton, C.D. 2014. Dentex spariformis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. . Downloaded on 16 November 2014.

Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3)

Marshall, T.C. 1964. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coastal Waters of Queensland. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 566 pp. 136 pls.

Ogilby, J.D. 1910. On some new fishes from the Queensland coast. Endeavour Series No. 1 23: 85-139.

Ogilby, J. D. 1916. Edible fishes of Queensland. Parts IV through IX. Memoirs of Queensland Museum 5: 127–177, pls. 14–23.

Sainsbury, K.J., Kailola, P.J. & Leyland, G.G. 1985. Continental Shelf Fishes of Northern and North-Western Australia. Canberra : Fisheries Information Service 375 pp. figs & pls.

Whitley, G.P. 1937. Further ichthyological miscellanea. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 11(2): 113-148 figs 11-13