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Species: Calamus arctifrons, Grass Porgy

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head profile moderately steep
eye small
black blotch at start LL
body & fins ~7 bars
small canines
pectoral short

Calamus arctifrons Goode & Bean, 1882

Grass Porgy

Body oval, compressed, deep; head deep, upper profile convex and moderately steep (angle of 50-57 degrees to horizontal); eye small; rear nostril slit-like; large mouth with thick lips, heavy lower jaw; bone under front of eye overlaps rear bone of top jaw; both jaws with canines (not enlarged) at front, but none curved outwards; 2 rows of molars at side of lower jaw, 3 rows on top jaw, top jaw without an irregular series inside and at front; preopercle border smooth; gill rakers 10 (10-12); dorsal fin low, XIII, 12 (11-13); anal fin short, III short spines, 10-11 soft rays; pectorals 16 (15-16) rays, fin relatively short (28-33% SL, not reaching anal fin origin); tail fin forked; cheeks and opercles scaly, but no scales on snout or between the eye and mouth; lateral line scales 43-49.

Overall light olive; an indistinct pearly blue streak below eye and 2-3 such streaks before eye; snout olive; sometimes a yellow bar between eyes; a conspicuous dark blotch (larger than pupil) on lateral line near top of gill cover; back and sides with 7-8 obscure dark bars that extend onto the fins; tail fin with 3-4 oblique bars on each lobe.

Size: to 25 cm.

Habitat: lives in seagrass beds

Depth: 0-30 m.

Florida and the northern Gulf of Mexico.


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Salinity
  • Marine
  • Marine Only
Inshore/Offshore
  • Inshore
  • Inshore Only
Water Column Position
  • Bottom
Habitat
  • Sand & gravel
  • Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
  • Submerged vegetation
  • Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
  • Reef and soft bottom
  • Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
FishBase Habitat
  • Demersal
  • Reef Associated
Feeding Group
  • Carnivore
  • Data
Diet
  • Data
  • Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
  • Mobile benthic gastropods/bivalves
  • Sea-stars/cucumbers/urchins
Egg Type
  • Data
  • Pelagic
  • Pelagic larva
Global Endemism
  • All species
  • Greater Caribbean endemic
  • West Atlantic Endemic
Regional Endemism
  • Continent
  • Continent only
  • GC endemic
  • Gulf of Mexico endemic
  • All species
Residency
  • Resident
Climate Zone
  • Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
  • Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
IUCN Red List
  • Least concern
  • Listed
CITES
  • Not listed
Length Max
  • 25
Depth Range Min
  • 0
Depth Range Max
  • 30