About Odontoscion dentex (Cuvier, 1830)
Odontoscion dentex, commonly called the reef croaker, has a short, somewhat oblong and compressed body, with a smoothly arched dorsal profile. Its head is low, with a conical snout, a large eye, and a small protuberance on the tip of the lower jaw. The moderately large mouth is angled upwards, and the lower jaw protrudes. Each jaw has a row of large teeth at the front, with a pair of canines at the tip of the lower jaw. The snout bears 8 pores, and the chin has an additional 4 pores and no barbel. The preoperculum is smooth. The dorsal fin has 11 or 12 spines located before its incision, and one spine plus 23 to 26 soft rays located behind the incision. The anal fin has 2 spines and 8 or 9 soft rays; the second, robust anal spine measures 75% of the length of the first soft anal ray. The overall body colour is dark grey, with dark spots on the scales. The inner surface of the operculum is black, and there is a large black spot at the axil of the pectoral fins. The maximum published total length of this species is 30 cm (12 in), while 18 cm (7.1 in) is a more typical total length. This species occurs in the tropical Western Atlantic Ocean, ranging from Florida and Cuba to southern Brazil, but it is not found in the Bahamas. It inhabits caves, crevices, and coral habitats at depths between 1 and 30 meters (3 feet 3 inches to 98 feet 5 inches).
