Pinfish

About Pinfish

See: Porgies

The spottail pinfish (Diplodus holbrookii) is an ocean-going species of fish in the family Sparidae. It is also known as the spottail seabream or spottail pinkish porgy. Along with other members of their family, spottail pinfish are occasionally eaten and considered by some to be a panfish.

The spottail pinfish (Diplodus holbrookii) is an ocean-going species of fish in the family Sparidae. It is also known as the spottail seabream or spottail pinkish porgy. Along with other members of their family, spottail pinfish are occasionally eaten and considered by some to be a panfish. Taxonomy The spottail pinfish was first formally described as Sargus holbrookii in 1878 by Tarleton Hoffman Bean with its type locality given as the Savannah Bank off Charleston, South Carolina. This species is part of the Diplodus sargus species complex within the genus Diplodus. The genus Diplodus is placed in the family Sparidae within the order Spariformes by the 5th edition of Fishes of the World. Some authorities classify this genus in the subfamily Sparinae, but the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognize subfamilies within the Sparidae. Etymology The spottail pinfish honours the American physician and naturalist John Edwards Holbrook who wrote the Ichthyology of South Carolina published in 1855. Description Spottail pinfish have a deep, ovoid, laterally compressed body with a small, deep head and a pointed snout. They have a small mouth which just reaches…