Common Name
Porkfish
Year Described
Linnaeus, 1758
Identification
Dorsal Fin: XII, 16-17
Anal Fin: III, 9-11
Gill Rakers: 13-15 (lower limb of first arch)
Lateral Line Scales: 56-60
Body deep with a steeply sloped forehead profile. Mouth small. Soft dorsal and anal fins scaled at base. There are 10-11 scales above the lateral line at the first dorsal spine.
Color
Body bright silvery blue with several yellow stripes from dorsum to belly. Head silvery blue with a yellow sheen on the nape. A dark band runs through eye from mouth to top of head. A second dark band runs from the anterior dorsal fin to the pectoral fin base. The fins are all bright yellow.
Size
Maximum size to 40cm TL.
Habitat
Bottom dwelling on coral reefs and hard bottoms.
Range
Northern Florida to the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. Also continental waters from the western Gulf of Mexico to Brazil.
References
Lindeman, K.C. 2002. Haemulidae (pp. 1522-1550). In: Carpenter. 2002. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Vol. 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae). FAO Species Identification Guides for Fisheries Purposes. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. FAO of the U.N., Rome.