Game Fishing > Porgy family, Sparidae > Little-head porgy

Little-head porgy

This species was first described by Jordan and Gilbert, in 1883, from Key West. They named it proridens, meaning "prow tooth," owing to its projecting canines. It is abundant in the West Indies, and is quite common about Key West and the neighboring keys.

It is one of the smallest and prettiest of the porgies, and is called littlehead in contradistinction to the jolt-head or bighead porgy. It is almost identical in shape to the saucer-eye porgy, both in head and body.

It is brighter in color than the other porgies, being quite silvery with iridescent reflections; the scales of the upper part of the body have violet spots, forming longitudinal streaks; those on the lower part have pale orange spots; the sides have several dark bands; the snout and cheeks have horizontal, wavy stripes of violet-blue; the dorsal fin is violet, with orange border; the anal fin is blue; the caudal fin has an orange band.

It is of similar habits to the other porgies, and found with them, but is less common. It is a good panfish, growing only to six or eight inches in length. The little-head porgy, though small in size, is equally as voracious as the other porgies, and is well worth catching if only to admire its beauty.

The same tackle will answer as for the others, or more especially that mentioned for the saucereye, and the same baits can be employed.