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Pigfish

Orthopristis chrysoptera

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

Species Information
Size Maximum to 40 cm total length; commonly to 30 cm.
Diagnostic characters Body ovate-elliptical, considerably compressed, its depth 30 to 38% of standard length. Two pores and a median groove on chin; jaws with a narrow band of slender teeth; preopercular margin very slightly serrate; gill rakers short and slender, about 12 on lower limb of first arch. Dorsal fin with 12 or 13 spines and 15 or 16 soft rays; anal fin with 3 spines and 12 or 13 soft rays; dorsal and anal fin spines enclosed in a deep scaly sheath, the soft rays naked. Pored lateral-line scales 53 to 58; 10 longitudinal rows of scales above, and 15 to 19 rows below the lateral line. Colour: body light blue-grey above and shading gradually into silver below; each scale of body with a blue centre, the edge with a bronze spot, these spots forming orange-brown stripes extending obliquely upwards and backwards,on back and sides, those below being nearly horizontal; head with bronze spots; fins yellow bronze with dusky margins.
Habitat, biology, and fisheries Typically inhabits nearshore waters over soft bottom habitats. Often found in brackish water. Recorded occasionally from midshelf reef areas. Feeds on crustaceans and smaller fishes. Caught throughout its range with seines, trawls, and hook-and-line. Separate statistics are not reported for this species. Marketed mostly fresh.
Distribution Atlantic coast of the USA from New York to Yucatán Peninsula, and Cuba; also in Bermuda.
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.