Marine Biologist Shares Stunning Footage Of Rare Mediterranean ‘Gurbell’

Marine biologist Alan Deidun has shared breathtaking footage captured by @ alessandro_consorti, featuring the elusive brown meagre (Sciaena umbra), locally known in Malta as the “gurbell.” The video offers a rare glimpse of this gentle and calm fish, notable for its distinctive yellowish tail and large dorsal fin.

Deidun highlighted that the brown meagre, native to the Mediterranean and the north-east Atlantic, can grow up to 70 centimetres in length and live up to 21 years. Intriguingly, in Turkey, its otoliths or “ear stones” are traditionally ground into a powder and used as a remedy for urinary tract infections.

#MaltaDaily