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Florida pompano

Trachinotus carolinus

Information and species illustrations courtesy of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Species Information
Size Maximum uncertain due to past confusion with the larger T. falcatus; unconfirmed report of 5.02 kg; 2.9 kg probable; common to 35 cm fork length at 1.1 kg. All-tackle IGFA world angling record 3.67 kg.
Diagnostic characters Body short, deep, and compressed, with upper and lower profiles similar and head profile sloping to a blunt snout. Eye small (diameter contained 3.2 to 5.1 times in head length). Upper jaw very narrow at end and extending to below mideye; lower jaw included. Teeth in jaws small, conical, and recurved, disappearing completely by about 20 cm fork length; no teeth on tongue. Gill rakers 5 to 7 upper, 8 to 14 lower.
Habitat, biology, and fisheries Found in small to large schools along sandy beaches, in inlets, and brackish bays. Probably spawns in oceanic waters; juveniles form immense schools along the beaches of eastern Florida from April to July. Feeds on molluscs, crustaceans, and small fish. Caught commercially with trammel nets and gill nets; also with haul seines and shrimp trawls; caught with light tackle in the surf and on shallow flats. Mostly sold fresh, some frozen; flavour rated as excellent
Distribution From Massachusetts to Brazil; irregularly occurring in the West Indies (Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Tobago, Trinidad); erroneously reported from Bermuda. A geminate species, Trachinotus paitensis (Cuvier), occurs in the eastern Pacific.
Citations Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 1: Introduction, molluscs, crustaceans, hagfishes, sharks, batoid fishes, and chimaeras. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 1-600. Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae to Grammatidae). FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 601-1374. Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and marine mammals. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 1375-2127.