Calamus calamus
Saucereye Porgy
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Sparidae (Porgies)
Calamus
Calamus calamus (Saucereye Porgy)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Small procumbent spine preceding dorsal fin, one or two enlarged canine teeth in upper jaw, blue line below eye, dorsal profile of head slightly convex, posterior naris long and slitlike, anterior jaw teeth conical, teeth on sides of jaws molariform, bony tubercle on lower anterior section of maxilla, tubercle on prefrontal bone well developed, gill rakers on first arch short and numbering 11 to 13, measurements (% SL): head length 29%–31%, snout length 16%–18%, eye diameter 10%–11%, suborbital depth 11%–13%, pectoral fin length 34%–39%, length of longest dorsal fin spine 12%–15%, body depth 44%–50%, caudal peduncle depth 9%–10%, pectoral fin with 14 rays, dorsal fin slightly notched with 12 spines and 12 rays, anal fin with 10 or 11 rays, lateral line scales numbering 51 to 55
Silvery to brassy, occasionally with dark blotches, blue line below eye, bluish blotch on upper base of pectoral fin, scaleless section of head purplish brown often with light spots or stripes
Distribution
Western Atlantic from North Carolina and Bermuda to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Antilles
Rare to absent in the western Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Coastal waters to 75 m, associated with coral reefs (adults) and turtle grass (Thalassia) beds (juveniles)
Coral reefs and turtle grass beds
Biology
Polychaetes, sea urchins, brittle stars, crabs, and hermit crabs
Maximum known size is 410 mm TL
Adults are frequently found in coral areas, while the young prefer vegetated (e.g. Thalassia), sandy bottoms. Feeds mainly on mollusks, worms, brittle stars, hermit crabs, crabs and sea urchins. Easily approached (Ref. 9710). Marketed fresh and frozen (Ref. 5217).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2011-03-30. Resilience: Low (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish.
References
Randall and Caldwell 1966
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Cervigón 1993b
Smith 1997
Hoese and Moore 1998
Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999
Carpenter 2002b
Randall, J.E. (1967) Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. Miami 5:665-847.
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
Randall, J.E. (1996) Caribbean reef fishes. Third Edition - revised and enlarged. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd., Hong Kong. 3nd ed. 368 p.
Claro, R. (1994) Características generales de la ictiofauna. p. 55-70. In R. Claro (ed.) Ecología de los peces marinos de Cuba. Instituto de Oceanología Academia de Ciencias de Cuba and Centro de Investigaciones de Quintana Roo.
Comments On Calamus calamus