Pinfish

Lagodon rhomboides
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Suborder:	Percoidei
Superfamily:	Percoidea
Family:	Sparidae
Genus:	Lagodon Holbrook, 1855
Species:	L. rhomboides
Binomial name
Lagodon rhomboides (Linnaeus, 1766)

The pinfish, Lagodon rhomboides, is a saltwater fish of the Sparidae family, the breams and porgies. It inhabits mostly subtropical shallow coastal waters of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States and Mexico. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Lagodon. Other common names include pin perch, sand perch, and butterfish.

The pinfish is a small fish, growing only to about 4.5 in (11.4 cm). Both the male and the female have a silvery sheen with five to six vertical bars on the side. They have olive backs with yellow and white pigmentation and blue, green, and purple iridescence. The anterior dorsal fin has 12 rigid, spiny rays capable of superficially puncturing human skin, giving the species its common name, pinfish.

The pinfish is found in Bermuda and along the United States coast from Massachusetts to Texas, and down along the Mexican Gulf Coast. It is also found along the northern Yucatán coast and near some northern Caribbean islands, but it is less common in the tropical portions of its range.

The adult pinfish prefers waters between 30 and 50 feet deep, while the juvenile is more common where there is some cover, such as seagrass beds, rocky bottoms, jetties, pilings, and mangroves. It prefers higher-salinity water. It rarely schools, but it associates with other individuals, especially where food items such as barnacles are abundant.

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Wikipedia