Diplodus levantinus Fricke, Golani & Appelbaum-Golani 2016

This species is distinguished by the following characters: D XI-XII,10-16; A III,11-13; pectoral fin rays 15-17; gill rakers on first gill arch 6-9 + 8-12; upper and lower jaws with a single row of 4 incisors on each side, followed by molariform teeth, total of 16-19 in the upper jaw and 12-14 in the lower jaw, with the molariforms of the upper jaw separated from the incisors by a wide gap; in adults, sides of the body with 8 vertical bars of equal width, also present even in large adults, followed by a broad bar on caudal peduncle, which usually nearly reaches the ventral margin of the caudal peduncle (Ref. 110175).

Dorsal spines (total): 11 - 12; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10 - 16; Analspines: 3; Analsoft rays: 11 - 13; Vertebrae: 23

Found from shallow water to 50 m depth, usually on sand bottom near rocks; while juveniles are found above sandy substrate near rocks at depths of 0.2-2 m (Ref. 110175).