habitat_narrative
Marine
Adult Cheimerius nufar are found in loose shoals primarily over deeper, low relief reefs down to at least 130 m while juveniles inhabit shallow reefs and over sand adjacent to reefs from seven to 60 m. Along the South African coast, eggs and larvae of this species are distributed inshore of the Agulhas Current (Garratt 1985b). Adults do not appear to undertake extensive migrations, however, they appear to be nomadic between reef complexes and local migrations into shallow water during stormy weather or following cold water upwelling is known to take place (Mann et al. 2000). Cheimerius nufar is carnivorous, feeding mainly on fish and squid (Druzhinin 1975, Coetzee and Baird 1981a, Buxton et al. 1984, Garratt 1985c, Smale 1986).Cheimerius nufar is a rudimentary hermaphrodite and functional gonochorist (Coetzee 1983, Garratt 1985b, Buxton and Garratt 1990, Garratt 1991) but spawning behavior and early gonadal development suggest the possibility of protogynous sex change (Garratt 1993). McIlwain et al. (2006) report that the size–frequency distribution of C. nufar in Oman was bimodal, with larger males than females being caught. Whether the observed bias in sex ratios and bimodal size distributions represents true hermaphroditism in these populations in Oman is unknown.
Spawning occurs during winter and spring (June-November) in Mozambique and KwaZulu-Natal (Piotrovski 1990, Garratt 1985b, Garratt 1991) but during summer (November to February) in the Eastern Cape (Coetzee 1983). Spawning has been recorded throughout the distribution range of this species (Druzhinin 1975, Coetzee 1983, Garratt 1985b, Piotrovski 1990, Garratt 1993). Sexual maturity in South Africa is reached at a size of 25–30 cm FL (Garratt 1985b, Coetzee 1983) and at an age of three to four years (Coetzee and Baird 1981a).
In Oman, there were two spawning seasons observed during a 12-month sampling period. The main spawning season coincided with the monsoon period between July and August. Both female and male C. nufar spawned a second time between May and June. Data on the development of female gonads and gonado-somatic index (GSI) revealed low GSI values during the onset of the summer monsoon period in June (McIlwain et al. 2006). The spawning in Oman contrasts with that in South Africa, however, spawning in both locations occurred when there is a decline in seawater temperature corresponding to seasonal upwelling events (McIlwain et al. 2006).
Al-Marzuqi (2011) recorded a maximum age of 13 years from the Arabian Sea off Oman. Spawning season in Omani waters was six months from May-October, with peak spawning likely occurring between June and September. Fecundity ranged between 11,406 to 473,277 eggs per individual. The maximum length recorded was 75 cm TL (van der Elst 1993), maximum weight in South Africa was seven kg (angling record) (SADSAA 2012). It is a slow growing sparid reaching a maximum age of 22 years in the Southeastern Cape (Coetzee and Baird 1981a) and 25 years in the Gulf of Aden (Druzhinin 1975).
