IDENTIFICATION
Karanteen are elongate, plump-bodied fish with an overall silver sheen.
The body has 8 - 10 longitudinal yellow stripes which run from the gill covers to the tail.
Karanteen can reach 30 cm in length but the KwaZulu-Natal average is about 19 cm.

DISTRIBUTION
This fish is widely distributed and occurs in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic around South Africa to Southern Mocambique. Habitat preferences for adults are subtidal gullies and shallow rocky reefs, and they are largely confined to the surf zone. Juveniles inhabit rock pools, shallow reefs and estuaries in the south eastern and south western Cape.

FEEDING
Fry initially feed on planktonic animals while large fish are herbivorous, feeding on red seaweeds. The change of this feeding habit is caused by anatomical changes where the teeth of juveniles change to sharp cutting teeth more suited to browsing. The gut also lengthens considerably with age to cope with the high bulk, low energy vegetarian intake.

REPRODUCTION
Spawning occurs from April to September over subtidal reefs along KwaZulu-Natal's shores with a peak period between June and August. Adults undertake a spawning migration from the cooler Cape waters to the warmer KwaZulu-Natal waters followed by a southward migration of larvae inshore of the Agulhas Current. Juveniles make extensive use of southern Cape estuaries and shallow sandy coastlines as nursery areas.

GROWTH
Males reach a fork length of 14 - 15 cm at maturity and females a length of 16 - 17 cm at maturity. This corresponds to an age of about one and a half years. Adults reach a maximum age of 6 years and a maximum total length of 30 cm.

FISHERY
Karanteen are one of the most abundant herbivorous species in southern Africa and are harvested primarily by shore anglers with rod and line. In KwaZulu-Natal, karanteen contribute a large percentage of the catch and are the second most important species after shad. Karanteen make up about 21% of the total catch off the KwaZulu-Natal coast and in the Eastern Cape. Anglers usually target preferred species such as shad, but if catches of these fish are low, anglers often change to smaller hooks and then target karanteen. This behaviour has resulted in a peculiar phenomenon where good catches of shad alternate with good catches of karanteen. Karanteen are also caught for use as live bait for larger game fish.

STATUS
Karanteen are heavily utilised by subsistence linefishers and the levels of this harvesting need to be carefully monitored.

MANAGEMENT

• Classified as a bait fish.
• The minimum size limit is 15 cm.
• The bag limit is 10.

Healthy estuaries are important for the conservation of all fish that use estuaries as nursery areas.

Rudy van der Elst, Bruce Mann and Vuyiswa Radebe are acknowledged for the scientific information on which this publication is based.