Species: Calamus arctifrons, Grass porgy

eye small
black blotch at start LL

small canines
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.

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