Black Sea Bream are a mid-sized, inshore fish, found off the south coast of Ireland . They have a rounded, compressed body, and shoal in small schools for protection. They appear black at first glance, but actually have a dark, shiny silver skin colouring. Mating males go very dark, and develop bright silver stripes down the side of their body, designed to attract a mate.

Once it has the attention of an interested female, the next stage for the male is to woo the potential mate by making a nest - simply a hollow in the sand - on the sea-bed. The male excavates it nest by flapping its tail over and over again to push the sand to one side. Often, there can be several males in an area competing for a mate, and whichever male makes the largest, roundest, neatest nest, wins the affection of the female. After mating, the male will guard the nest vigorously from potential predators until the eggs have hatched. The Black Sea Bream is one of the few Irish fish to exhibit such paternal behaviour