Credit: Illustration by Diane Rome Peebles

Family Sparidae

Description: small mouth with incisor-like teeth; distinctive black spot behind the gill cover; body bluish-silver with blue and orange-yellow horizontal stripes, yellow fins

Where found: seagrass beds, bridges, piers, marker pilings, and around natural and artificial reefs; spawn offshore

Size: usually less than 8 inches

Remarks: popular live bait, notorious bait stealers

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