The present work aimed to investigate possible spatial and seasonal patterns in the distribution of two sympatric serranids, the painted comber, Serranus scriba and the comber, Serranus cabrilla. The research took place at a NATURA 2000 site located at Sithonia peninsula, N. Greece. Underwater visual census was used for data collection; specifically, individuals from each species were recorded along four isobathic transects of 200 m2 each, placed every 5 m and ranging from 5 to 20 m depth. A total of 27 samplings were conducted between September 2010 and August 2011. The results clearly demonstrated complementary bathymetric distributions for S. scriba and S. cabrilla, the former mostly occurring until 10 m depth, and the latter in deeper layers. This pattern was maintained during the whole season. In addition the two species exhibited differences in their preferred substrate type and their pattern of association to the sea bottom. Our results were viewed under the light of resource portioning between the two sympatric species.
