Lagodon rhomboides 

 Adult 



5 cm 



(fromGoode 1884) 



Common Name: pinfish 



Scientific Name: Lagodon rhomboides 



Other Common Names: bream, pin perch, sand perch, 



sailor's choice, butterfish; sarselema (French); poisson 



beurre (Cajun French); sargo selema, chopa espina 



(Spanish) (Fischer 1978, Muncy 1984). 



Classification (Robins et al. 1991) 



Phylum: Chordata 



Class: Osteichthyes 



Order: Perciformes 



Family: Sparidae 



Value 



Commercial : The pinfish is included in the unclassified 

 or industrial fish categories in commercial catch statis- 

 tics (Fischer 1 978, Muncy 1 984). It is a potential source 

 of fish meal, and has value as a forage fish for many 

 commercial fish species (Muncy 1 984). It also contrib- 

 utes a small part to the industrial groundfish fishery of 

 the northern Gulf of Mexico (Roithmayr 1965). Pinfish 

 are caught mainly with trawls, but also with gill nets, 

 trammel nets, beach seines, traps, and on hook and 

 line (Fischer 1978). Commercially caught fish are 

 marketed for food are mostly sold as fresh product. 



Recreational : Pinfish are often caught while fishing for 

 other species (Muncy 1984). Although it is excellent 

 eating, the pinfish is not widely consumed due to its 

 relatively small size (Fischer 1978). It is often sought 

 by young anglers (Shipp 1986). Recreational fishery 

 information for the Gulf of Mexico (except Texas) 

 showed an estimated total catch of 8,674,000 pinfish in 

 1992 (O'Bannon 1994). 



Indicator of Environmental Stress : Pinfish have been 

 used extensively in bioassay experiments on the toxic- 



ity of hydrocarbons (Finucane 1969, Parrish, et al. 

 1 975, Schimmel et al. 1 977) and physiological experi- 

 ments studying the effects of hydrocarbons and envi- 

 ronmental conditions on fish (Cameron 1 969b, Cameron 

 1 970, Kloth 1 970, Kjelson and Johnson 1 976, Lee et al. 

 1980). 



Ecological : The pinfish is an estuarine dependent 

 species. It is often so abundant and predaceous that 

 it is believed to alter the composition of estuarine 

 epifaunal communities (Orth and Heck 1980, Coen et 

 al. 1 981 , Stoner 1 980, Stoner 1 982, Muncy 1 984). This 

 fish is numerically dominant in the shallow, subtidal 

 seagrass communities in the Gulf of Mexico, and its 

 predation on amphipod communities probably limits 

 amphipod abundance in these areas. In addition, the 

 consumption of plants and detritus by pinfish is impor- 

 tant in the export of organic materials in estuaries. 



Range 



Overall : The pinfish occurs in coastal waters from as far 

 north as Cape Cod, Massachusetts, through the Gulf of 

 Mexico and the north coast of Cuba, to the Yucatan 

 peninsula. It is rare north of Maryland and most 

 common south of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina through 

 to the northern Gulf of Mexico (Fischer 1 978, Lee et al. 

 1980, Muncy 1984). Fitzsimons and Parker (1985) 

 have demonstrated no karyotypic differences among 

 sampling locations, suggesting a single population for 

 the southeast and Gulf coasts. 



Within Study Area : The pinfish is abundant throughout 

 the Gulf of Mexico, except in the very turbid brackish 

 waters of Louisiana west of the mouth of the Missis- 

 sippi River (Table 5.32) (Hoese and Moore 1977). 



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