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Species: Calamus leucosteus, Whitebone Porgy

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snout not v steep
blue lines: above & below eye
snout purplish grey
pectoral base - no dark spot
no enlarged canines
pectoral long

Calamus leucosteus Jordan & Gilbert in Jordan, 1885

Whitebone Porgy

Body oval, compressed, moderately deep; head deep, snout moderately deep, but not very steep; rear nostril slit-like; a small bony tubercle above rear nostril; large mouth with thick lips, bone under front of eye overlaps rear bone of top jaw; heavy lower jaw; both jaws with equal sized canines at front, molar teeth at sides (3 row above, 2 below); preopercle border smooth; dorsal fin low, XI-XIII, 12 (11-13); anal fin short, III short spines, 9-11 soft rays; pectoral fin usually 16 ( but15-17) rays, fin long (29-42% SL, reaching level of anal spines); cheeks and opercles scaly, but no scales on snout or between the eye and mouth; lateral line scales 44-49.

Overall silvery, with an iridescent blue tint; irregular purplish-grey blotches on side; snout dark purplish grey; an irridescent dark blue line under eye, another above eye; no dark spot on upper base of pectoral fin; may show ~5 dark bars.

Size: to 46 cm.

Habitat: on sand and mud bottoms.

Depth: 10-100 m.

North Carolina to the tip of the Yucatan peninsula.


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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)
  • Mud
  • Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
  • Reef and soft bottom
  • Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
FishBase Habitat
  • Demersal
  • Reef Associated
Feeding Group
  • Corallivore
  • Carnivore
  • Data
Diet
  • Data
  • Soft corals/hydroids
  • Bony fishes
  • Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
  • Mobile benthic gastropods/bivalves
  • Sea-stars/cucumbers/urchins
  • Sessile crustacea
Egg Type
  • Data
  • Pelagic
  • Pelagic larva
Global Endemism
  • All species
  • Greater Caribbean endemic
  • West Atlantic Endemic
Regional Endemism
  • Continent
  • Continent only
  • Extends North of GC
  • GC 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
  • 46
Depth Range Min
  • 10
Depth Range Max
  • 100