Calamus leucosteus
Whitebone Porgy
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Sparidae (Porgies)
Calamus
Calamus leucosteus (Whitebone 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.)
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Characters
Pectoral fin length 29%–42% SL, long dorsal fin spine 10%–18% SL, body depth 44%–54% SL, caudal peduncle depth 10%–11% SL. Dorsal profile of head evenly convex, forming 60° to 64° angle with horizontal line from tip of snout to midbase of caudal fin. Anterior jaw teeth conical and equal in size. Teeth on sides of jaws in three rows in upper jaw and two rows in lower jaw, lacking molariform teeth medial to rows in upper jaw. Lower anterior section of maxilla with bony tubercle having free semicircular margin. Tubercle on prefrontal bone poorly developed. Gill rakers on first arch short, numbering 10 to 12. Measurements (% SL): head length 31%–33%, snout length 18%–19%, eye diameter 10%–11%, suborbital depth 12%–13%. Pectoral fin with 15 to 17 rays, dorsal fin slightly notched with 11 to 13 spines and 11 to 13 rays, anal fin with 9 to 11 rays. Lateral line scales 44 to 49 (usually 47 or 48).
Bluish silver with small irregular blotches. Snout purplish gray, with blue lines above and below eye.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from North Carolina to northern Yucatán, including the Gulf of Mexico.
Habitat Associations
Soft bottoms, between 10 and 100 m depth.
Biology
Maximum known size is 460 mm TL.
Found mainly on sedimentary bottoms from 10 and 100 m depth.
Reproductive mode: protogyny; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Sex reversal, from female to male, occurs primarily at 18-25 cm FL (Ref. 5878).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2011-03-31. Resilience: Low (K=0.23; tmax=12; tm=1; Fec=>30,000).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish.
References
Randall and Caldwell 1966
Hoese and Moore 1977, 1998
Boschung 1992
Smith 1997
Castro-Aguirre et al. 1999
Carpenter 2002b
Waltz, C.W., W.A. Roumillat and C.A. Wenner (1982) Biology of the whitebone porgy, Calamus leucosteus in the South Atlantic Bight. Fish. Bull. 80:863-874.
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.
Sedberry, G.R. (1989) Feeding habits of whitebone porgy, Calamus leucosteus (Teleostei: Sparidae), associated with hard bottom reefs off the southeastern United States. Fish. Bull. 87(4):935-944.
Smith, C.L. (1997) National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
Bowman, R.E., C.E. Stillwell, W.L. Michaels and M.D. Grosslein (2000) Food of northwest Atlantic fishes and two common species of squid. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-NE 155, 138 p.
Comments On Calamus leucosteus