Littlehead Porgy, Calamus proridens
Littlehead Porgy, Calamus proridens. Fish caught from coastal waters off Marathon, Florida, July 2018. Length: 20 cm (7.9 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).
Littlehead Porgy, Calamus proridens. Fish caught from coastal waters off Key Largo, Florida. Length: 20 cm (7.9 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Josh Leisen (joshadventures.com), Gaylord, Michigan.
Littlehead Porgy, Calamus proridens. Fish caught from coastal waters off Key West, Florida, August 2014. Length: 26 cm (10 inches). Catch and photograph courtesy of Dean Kimberly, Atlanta, Georgia. Identification courtesy of Dr. Ross Robertson, Smithsonian Institute, Panama.
Littlehead Porgy, Calamus proridens. Both fish caught on the Florida Middle Grounds, March 2016. Length: 30 cm (12 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
The Littlehead Porgy, Calamus proridens, is a member of the Porgy or Sparidae Family, and is known in Mexico as pluma jorbada. Globally, there are thirteen species in the genus Calamus, of which nine are found in Mexican waters, eight in the Atlantic and one in the Pacific Ocean.
The Littlehead Porgy is characterized by their “porgy-like” laterally compressed relatively deep body that has a depth that is 38% to 42% of standard length. They are one of the most brightly colored Porgies. They have an overall silvery coloration with violet spots on their scales that form stripes on their upper bodies. These stripes are crossed by darker colored bars. The front of their head is a dark blue-gray with many wavy blue lines just under their eyes that extend back and form a blue spot behind their gill cover. The also have a series of blue stripes that extend down their head. They have blue spots on their sides that become pale orange on the lower portions of their body. Their head has a steep anterior profile that forms a straight line and rises to the nape then gently curves to the front of the dorsal fin. They have a small pointed mouth and mid-sized eyes. Their anal fin is blue-shaded and has 3 spines and 10 rays; their dorsal fin has an orange margin and 12 long slender spines and 12 rays; their caudal fin has dull orange bands and has a long upper lobe and a slightly shorter lower lobe; and their pectoral fins are long. They have 10 short blunt gill rakers and smaller scales than most porgies.
The Littlehead Porgy is found in coastal waters associated with coral reefs and over hard spongy and coral bottoms at depths up to 40 m (130 feet). They reach a maximum of 46 cm (18 inches) in length, but normally range from 25 cm (10 inches) to 38 cm (15 inches) and less than 1 kg (2 lbs 3 oz) in weight. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 0.68 kg (1 lb 8 oz) with the fish caught in coastal waters off Islamorada, Florida in July 2017. They are bottom dwellers that feed primarily on invertebrates and are known to migrate between feeding and spawning grounds. They are preyed upon by the Sooty Tern, Onychoprion fuscatus. The Littlehead Porgy is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Littlehead Porgy is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean.
The Littlehead Porgy is an easy fish to identify due to the bright blue spot on its gill cover but can be confused with the Pluma Porgy, Calamus pennatula (gradual head profile; narrower body profile).
From a conservation perspective the Littlehead Porgy is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are considered to be an excellent food fish and are targeted by both commercial fishermen utilizing hook and line, longlines, bottom trawls and fish traps. They are known to contain ciguatoxin. Recreational anglers target Littlehead Porgy by by drift or still fishing with light spinning and bait casting tackle utilizing live or dead shrimp or other cut baits. They are strong fighters for their size and a good foe on light tackle. They are unregulated in most parts of their range (except for coastal waters of the southeast United States) and commercial landings have declined significantly in the last 10 years. They are subject to habitat destruction and overfishing in some parts of their range.