Species: Archosargus rhomboidalis, Western Atlantic seabream

Archosargus rhomboidalis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Western Atlantic seabream

Body oval, somewhat compressed, back humped; head small, pointed, with asymetrical convex profiles; eye moderate; mouth small, opens at front; bone under front of eye overlaps rear bone of top jaw; front teeth large, with wide, flattened, unnotched tips, 3 rows of molars on sides of top jaws; margin of preopercle smooth; dorsal fin long & low, XIII, front spine (sometimes skin covered) projects forwards, 10-11 rays; anal short, III, 9-10, second spine very strong; pectoral long, much longer than pelvic, reaching level of second anal spine; caudal fin forked; lateral-line scales 46-49; cheeks and opercles scaly, but no scales on snout or between the eye and mouth.

Light bluish on back and silvery white below; a prominent black blotch on upper side above pectoral fin and 7 irregular golden stripes on side; fins with an orange tint.

Size: grows to 33 cm.

Habitat: on mud and sand bottoms, in seagrass beds and mangroves, sometimes in brackish water.

Depth: 1-50 m.

New Jersey to southern Brazil.