The jolthead porgy (''Calamus bajonado'') is an ocean-going

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of fish in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Sparidae. In

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

, it is known as the blue bone porgy, in the United States, it is also known by the Spanish name ''bojanado'', in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, it is one of the species known by the name,

porgi grunt Porgi grunt is an English common name used in Jamaica for several species of fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilagi ...

Taxonomy and naming

Credit for describing the Jolthead porgy goes to

Marcus Elieser Bloch Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723–1799) was a German physician and naturalist who is best known for his contribution to ichthyology through his multi-volume catalog of plates illustrating the fishes of the world. Brought up in a Hebrew-speaking Jewish ...

and

Johann Gottlob Schneider Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider (18 January 1750 – 12 January 1822) was a German classicist and naturalist. Biography Schneider was born at Collm in Saxony. In 1774, on the recommendation of Christian Gottlob Heine, he became secretary to ...

. Though Bloch died in 1799, Schneider edited and republished several of Bloch's papers in a book called ''Systema Ichthyologiae iconibus cx illustratum'' in 1801. It was originally placed in the genus '' Sparus'', which now contains only one species, but has since been moved into ''

Calamus Calamus may refer to: Botany and zoology * ''Calamus'' (fish), a genus of fish in the family Sparidae * ''Calamus'' (palm), a genus of rattan palms * Calamus, the hollow shaft of a feather, also known as the quill * '' Acorus calamus'', the swe ...

''. The

Genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

name comes from the mythological

, or ''Kalamos''. It was so named because the Calamus of myth allowed himself to drown in a river, after the death of his lover, and transform into aquatic plants that some members of the genus make their homes in. The

name, ''bojonado'', comes from the Spanish words ''bojo'' and ''nado'', which mean "low swimming". Its common name is thought to come from its feeding behavior- that Jolthead porgies feed by jolting mollusks from rocks. The Jolthead porgy has five known synonyms, placing it in the genera ''

Pagrus ''Pagrus'' is a genus of fish in the family Sparidae. It contains at least six described species: *''Pagrus africanus'', Southern common seabream (Akazaki, 1962) *''Pagrus auratus'', Silver seabream or Australasian snapper (Forster, 1801) * ...

'', ''

Pagellus ''Pagellus'' is a genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and belo ...

'', '' Sparus'', and ''

''. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of sever ...

s of ''Calamus macrops'', and ''C. plumatula'' were reviewed in 1966 and found to be synonyms. ''Sparus bojanado'' is a

senior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnae ...

, it was the name originally given by Bloch and Schneider, but is no longer the accepted name.

Description

The Jolthead porgy usually has 12 rays on the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

, 10 on the anal fin. They have 15 pectoral rays, though they can sometimes vary from 14 to 16. The lateral line can have from 50 to 57

scales Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number w ...

. It differs from similar poriges it that most members of the genus has 45–49 scales on their lateral lines. It also differs from ''

Calamus pennatula The Pluma porgy (''Calamus pennatula'') is an ocean-going fish of the family Sparidae. In many parts of the Caribbean, it is simply known as the Pluma, while in Jamaica can be called the Pimento grunt, and is sometimes called the West Indian porg ...

'' in that it has more pectoral rays. Jolthead porgies have a blue line under each eye, and their mouths are rimmed in orange. The fish's overall color is a brassy silver with occasional blue/green iridescence, making it one of the dullest-colored member of its genus. The largest recorded Jolthead porgy was 76 cm, while they commonly grow up to 54 cm. Though they normally grow to around 8 lb, The heaviest weighed 23.36 lb.

Distribution and habitat

Known only from the western Atlantic Ocean, Jolthead porgies are found from

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

and

south to Brazil. They are abundant in the northern

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

and the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

. They have been collected from beds of

seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the or ...

, and commonly swim in clear, shallow water up to 150 feet, (though there have been reports of them as deep as 180 and 200 m) where they are normally solitary, but sometimes appear in

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...

s near

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock o ...

s. They are thought to

spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: ...

in July and August. Diadema_antillarum_Flower_Garden_Banks

There is some debate over the Jolthead porgy's diet. Some sources consider it

omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nut ...

, while others state at its eats mainly other animals such as

sea urchins Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) of ...

(especially of the genus '' Diadema''), Mollusks and

Crustaceans Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean gro ...

Relationship with humans

Considered to be an excellent food fish, Jolt head porgies can easily be caught with a hook and line on the bottom and by means of

fish trap A fish trap is a trap used for fishing. Fish traps include fishing weirs, lobster traps, and some fishing nets such as fyke nets. Traps are culturally almost universal and seem to have been independently invented many times. There are two ma ...

s. They are considered to be a

game fish Game fish, sport fish or quarry refer to popular fish pursued by recreational anglers, and can be freshwater or saltwater fish. Game fish can be eaten after being caught, or released after capture. Some game fish are also targeted commercial ...

and are of minor commercial importance, though there have been reports of

ciguatera poisoning Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP), also known simply as ciguatera, is a foodborne illness caused by eating reef fish whose flesh is contaminated with certain toxins. Such individual fish are said to be ciguatoxic. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vom ...

due to

red tide A harmful algal bloom (HAB) (or excessive algae growth) is an algal bloom that causes negative impacts to other organisms by production of natural algae-produced toxins, mechanical damage to other organisms, or by other means. HABs are sometimes ...

associated with them.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2687521

jolthead porgy The jolthead porgy (''Calamus bajonado'') is an ocean-going species of fish in the family Sparidae. In Bermuda, it is known as the blue bone porgy, in the United States, it is also known by the Spanish name ''bojanado'', in Jamaica, it is one o ...

Fish of the Eastern United States Fish of the Western Atlantic

Fish of Cuba Fish of the Dominican Republic