The answer was the Gilt-head bream
Sparus aurata
Daily Animal puzzle number 30 ran on 1 September 2026. The secret animal was the Gilt-head bream. The table below holds the traits the game compares after each guess.
Traits the game compares
| Scientific name | Sparus aurata |
|---|---|
| Class | Actinopterygii |
| Order | Perciformes |
| Family | Sparidae |
| Genus | Sparus |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Activity | Diurnal |
| Body covering | Scales |
| Habitat | Ocean |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Venomous | None |
| Conservation status | LC |
| Walks on | No legs |
| Typical adult mass | 1.8 lb |
How the guesses narrow it down
Daily Animal gives you six guesses. Each guess is a real animal, and the game marks every trait it shares with the secret animal.
Taxonomy does most of the work. A guess in the same family as the secret animal is very close. A guess in the same class only tells you the broad group — for the Gilt-head bream, that group is Actinopterygii.
The other tiles narrow the field when taxonomy cannot. Diet, activity, the legs it walks on, body covering and habitat each split the pool a different way, so two guesses from different branches usually locate the answer faster than two similar guesses.