Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; demersal. Subtropical; 35°N - 15°N, 98°W - 74°W
Western Atlantic: Florida (USA), Little Bahama Bank (Bahamas) and the entire Gulf of Mexico to Campeche, Mexico (Ref. 7251). Range extended to Brazil (Ref. 94035).
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 7.6, range 10 - ? cm
Max length : 33.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 85752)
Dark brown bars on caudal and pectoral fins; bars on pectoral fin irregularly joined (Ref. 26938).
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal.
Commonly found in seagrass beds and rocky cuts in coastal bays and lagoons, and in shallows along open coast. In western coast of Florida, adults spawn in February and March (Ref. 26938). Nesting males produce grunt calls called the boatwhistle as advertisement of competition among males and to attract females (Ref. 45338). Neither opercular nor dorsal gland is venomous (Ref. 57406).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray, 1986. A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p. (Ref. 7251)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)
Threat to humans
Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 31174)
Human uses
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Special reports
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