Species: Calamus pennatula, Pluma porgy
blue rectangle behind eye
cheek yellow & blue lines
Calamus pennatula Guichenot, 1868
Pluma porgy
Body deep, compressed; head deep, upper head profile moderately steep ( upper profile 32-40 degrees); snout deep; rear nostril slit-like; mouth small, not reaching under front of eye; bone under front of eye overlaps rear bone of top jaw; both jaws with canines at front, top jaw with 1-2 pairs enlarged, 4th tooth on top jaw out-curved in large fish, molar teeth on sides of jaws (3 rows above, 2 below; preopercle border smooth; dorsal fin low, XIII,(spines relatively short, longest usually 12.2-14.9% SL, 12 rays; anal fin short, III short spines, 10 (10-11) soft rays; pectoral fin 14 (rarely 15) rays, fin long, reaches origin of anal fin; cheeks and opercles scaly, but no scales on snout or between the eye and mouth; lateral line scales 51-56.
Silvery, scales with a vertically elongate blue-green spot; a conspicuous rectangular blue blotch behind eye and across to edge of operculum; alternating blue and yellow horizontal lines under eye; a bright blue stripe and a small orange spot at top base of pectoral fin; corner of mouth pale yellow; front of throat pale salmon; fish may display diffuse bars on body.
Size: to 37 cm.
Habitat: reefs and adjacent sand bottoms and seagrass beds.
Depth: 5-85 m.
The Bahamas to Brazil.
High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
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- Marine
- Marine Only
- Inshore/Offshore
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- Inshore Only
- Inshore
- Water Column Position
-
- Bottom
- Habitat
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- Submerged vegetation
- Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
- Rocks
- Reef and soft bottom
- Corals
- Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
- Sand & gravel
- Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
- FishBase Habitat
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- Reef Associated
- Demersal
- Feeding Group
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- Data
- Carnivore
- Diet
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- Data
- Mobile benthic worms
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Sea-stars/cucumbers/urchins
- Mobile benthic gastropods/bivalves
- Egg Type
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- Data
- Pelagic
- Pelagic larva
- Global Endemism
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- West Atlantic Endemic
- All species.
- Greater Caribbean non-endemic
- Regional Endemism
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- Continent + Island (s)
- GC non-endemic
- Also in Brazil
- Extends South of GC
- All species..
- Continent
- Island (s)
- Residency
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- Resident
- Climate Zone
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- Equatorial (0-10N, Costa Rica / Venezuela)
- 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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- 37
- Depth Range Min
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- 5
- Depth Range Max
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- 85
