Calamus penna
Sheepshead Porgy
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Sparidae (Porgies)
Calamus
Calamus penna (Sheepshead 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, relatively long pectoral fin, and small prominent black spot on upper part of pectoral fin base. Dorsal profile of head evenly convex, with portion below eye forming 55° to 62° angle with horizontal line from tip of snout above upper lip to midbase of caudal fin. Posterior naris long and slitlike. Upper lip of adults divided in half by lengthwise groove. Anterior jaw teeth conical and about equal in size. Teeth on sides of jaws in three rows in upper jaw and two rows in lower jaw, and molariform teeth lacking medial to rows in upper jaw. Lower anterior section of maxilla possesses bony tubercle without free margin or rarely with short, free, straight to slightly curved margin. Tubercle on prefrontal bone, just behind posterior naris, poorly developed. Gill rakers on first arch short and number 10 to 13. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 30%–33%, snout length 16%–19%, eye diameter 6%–11%, suborbital depth 8%–14%, pectoral fin length 29%–39%, length of longest dorsal fin spine 10%–14%, body depth 39%–50%, caudal peduncle depth 9%–10%. Pectoral fin has 14 to 16 rays, dorsal fin slightly notched and has 11 to 13 spines and 11 to 13 rays, and anal fin has 9 to 11 rays. Lateral line scales number 45 to 49.
Color is silvery, with iridescent reflections and diffuse longitudinal grayish stripes. Cheek silvery and tinged with brown, and a brown vertical bar passes from lower rim of eye to corner of mouth. Juveniles have dark gray bars.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Florida and the Bahamas to Brazil, including the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Antilles.
Habitat Associations
Associated with hard and semihard bottoms, between 3 and 87 m depth.
Hard and semihard bottoms
Biology
Maximum known size is 460 mm TL.
Found in clear reef areas over soft or semi-hard bottoms. Juveniles are encountered in seagrass (Thalassia) beds (Ref. 9626). Marketed fresh and frozen.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2011-03-31. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial.
References
Randall and Caldwell 1966
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968
Matsuura 1983f
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Cervigón 1993a,b
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.
Uyeno, T., K. Matsuura and E. Fujii (eds.) (1983) Fishes trawled off Suriname and French Guiana. Japan Marine Fishery Resource Research Center, Tokyo, Japan. 519 p.
Darcy, G.H. (1986) Synopsis on the biological data on the porgies, Calamus arctifrons and C. proridens (Pisces: Sparidae). NOAA Tech. Rept. NMFS 44/FAO Fish. Synop. 148. 19 p.
Comments On Calamus penna