Species Type:
Fishes
Common Name(s):
Sandperch
Size:
On average, sandperches are 5-9 inches (13-23 cm) long.
Diet:
Sandperches eat shrimp, crab, smaller sea bass, gobies, bennies and more.
Range & Habitat:
These fish inhabit seagrass meadows, shallow bays, sandy bottoms and abandoned shipwrecks throughout the wester Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and western Caribbean Sea.
Details:
Sandperches are brown on top with white bellies and light blue stripes from their head to the base of their forked tail. They use their large mouths to ambush small fish and crustaceans. Unlike some bottom-dwellers, sandperches are active swimmers, often moving across the ocean floor. Despite their name, they’re in the same family as grouper.