Ken Schultz's Field Guide to Saltwater Fish - Macaw Pets store

This abundant, small member of the Sparidae family is
important as forage for predatory species of fish and is
widely used by anglers as bait. There was once a fairly good
commercial fishery for pinfish, but it is now a minor one;
the flesh is oily and has a strong flavor.
Identification. The pinfish has a compressed panfishlike
body, with a head that is high through the area just in front
of the dorsal fin. It has a small mouth and incisorlike teeth
with deeply notched edges. Its coloration is silvery overall,
with yellow and blue horizontal stripes. A round black spot
at the upper rear margin of each gill cover is distinctive. The
name of the species comes from the needle-sharp spines on
the first dorsal fin. All fins are yellowish.
A similar small porgy, the spottail pinfish (Diplodus holbrooki),
averages less than 10 inches in length, but occasional
larger individuals do exist. It is identified by the large
black band across the base of the caudal peduncle and by
the black margin on the gill covers. Otherwise, the body is
silvery, with only faint black bars. The spottail pinfish is common
over rocky bottoms and around docks and piers. In the
Caribbean it is replaced by the almost identical silver porgy
(D. argenteus).
Size. Pinfish are capable of growing to 15 inches, but they
rarely reach 10 inches in length and are common at about
7 inches. They live at least 7 years and probably longer.
Food and feeding habits. Pinfish consume crustaceans,
mollusks, worms, and occasionally small fish associated with
grassy habitats. They nibble at most foods, a habit that
makes them a nuisance for anglers fishing with bait for
other bottom-dwelling species.
Pinfish
Lagodon rhomboides
OTHER NAMES
bream, saltwater bream,
sailor’s choice, Canadian
bream; Spanish: sargo
salema.
Distribution. The pinfish
occurs in the western
Atlantic, from Massachusetts
to the northern Gulf of
Mexico, including Bermuda,
to the Yucatán Peninsula in
Mexico. The spottail pinfish
is found in the Gulf of
Mexico and in Florida.
Habitat/Spawning
behavior. Pinfish are
coastal and inshore species
that travel in schools, sometimes
in great numbers,
over vegetated and sometimes
rocky bottoms and
around docks and pilings;
they also frequent mangrove
areas and may enter
brackish water or freshwater.
Pinfish move out of
coastal waters in the winter,
and spawning occurs in the
winter in offshore waters.
Pinfish 145