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Brown meagre

species of fish

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 17, 2026
Entity authorityQ1383737 ↗
Source-derived summary

The brown meagre or corb (Sciaena umbra) is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. This species found in the eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, occurring in shallow waters with sandy bottoms. It is harvested for human consumption, especially in the Mediterranean.

Taxonomy

The brown meagre was first formally described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae; the type locality was given as Zadar, Croatia. In 1972, the ICZN set this species to be the type species of the genus Sciaena. The genus Sciaena is placed in the subfamily Sciaeninae by some authors, but the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognize subfamilies within the Sciaenidae (which it places in the order Acanthuriformes).

Etymology

The specific name umbra is derived from Latin, meaning "shadow" or "phantom". The generic name is derived from the Greek word skiaina (or skion), which is used to refer to the red mullet.

Distribution

The brown meagre is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from the southern English Channel to Senegal and Cape Verde, including the Canary Islands. Records from West Africa south of Senegal are questionable.

Editorial summary

“Brown meagre” enters the record as species of fish. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Brown, meagre and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA sound reference starting point where classification, measurement and the date of the underlying evidence remain visible. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1758, 1972—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Brown, meagre and species.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Brown meagre” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Brown, meagre and species provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1383737. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1758 and 1972.

Critical limits

Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

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  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Brown meagre”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Brown meagre primary sources, Brown meagre archive and Brown research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Brown meagre”?
  2. Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
  3. Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Brown meagre” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.