REFESENCE COPY 

Do Not Remove from the Library 

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

h nnn ptlands ~esearch Center 

FWS/O~s.82/11-26 I 

September 1984 700 Cajun 

Dome Boulevard 

Lafoyette, Louisiana 70506 

TR E~~82.4 

Species Profiles: Life Histories and 

Environmental Requirements of Coastal Fishes 

and Invertebrates (Gulf of Mexico) 

PINFISH 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Coastal Ecology Group 

Watetwavs Exueriment Station 

U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
FWS/OBS-82/11.26 

TR EL-82-4 

September 1984 

Species Profiles: Life Hi stories and Environmental Requirements 

of Coastal Fishes and Invertebrates (Gulf of Mexico) 

PINFISH 

Robert J. Muncy 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

Mississippi Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit 

P.O. Drawer BX 

Mississippi State University 

Mississippi State, MS 39762 

Project Manager 

. Larry Shanks 

Project Officer 

John Parsons 

National Coastal Ecosystems Team 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

1010 Gause Boul evard 

Slidell, LA 70458 

Performed for 

Coastal Ecology Group 

Waterways Experiment Station 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

Vicksburg, MS 39180 

and 

National Coastal Ecosystems Team 

Division of Biological Services 

Research and Development 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

U.S. Department of the Interior 

Washington, DC 20240 
DISCLAIMER 

Mention of trade names in this report does not constitute endorsement or 

recommendation for use by the Federal Government. 

This series should be referenced as follows: 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1983-19 . Species profiles: life histories and environmental requirements of coastal fishes and invertebrates. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. FWS/OBS-82/11. U.S. Army Corps of 

Engi neers , TR EL-82-4. 

This profile should be cited as follows: 

Muncy , R.J. 1984. Species profiles: life hi stories and environmental 

requirements of coastal fishes and invertebrates (Gulf of Mexico) -- 

pinfish. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. FWS/OBS-82/11.26. U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers, TR EL-82-7. 18 pp. 
PREFACE 

This species profile is one of a series on coastal aquatic organislns, 

principally fish, of sport, commerci a1 , or ecol ogical importance. The profil es 

are designed to provide coastal managers, engineers, and biologists with a brief 

comprehensive sketch of the bi 01 og ical characteristics and environmental requirements of the species and to describe how populations of the species may be 

expected to react to environmental changes caused by coastal devel opment. Each 

profile has sections on taxonomy, 1 i fe history, ecological role, environmental 

requirements, and economic importance, if appl icabl e. A three-ring binder is 

gsed for this series so that new profiles can be added as they are prepared. This 

project is jointly planned and financed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and 

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

Suggestions or questions regarding this report should be directed to one 

of the fol lowing addresses. 

Infomation Transfer Special ist 

National Coastal Ecosys tens Team 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

NASA-Sl idel 1 Computer Compl ex 

1010 Gause Boul evard 

Sl idel 1 , LA 70458 

U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station 

Attenti on: WESER-C 

Post Office Box 631 

Vicksburg, MS 39180 
CONTENTS 

Page 

PREFACE .................................................................. iii 

CONVERSION TABLE ......................................................... v 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................................... vi 

NOMENCLATURE/TAXONOMY/RANGE .............................................. 1 

MORPHOLOGY/IDENTIFICATION AIDS ........................................... 2 

REASONS FOR INCLUSION IN THE SERIES ...................................... 2 

LIFE HISTORY ........................................................ 2 

Spawning ............................................................ 2 

Eggs and Fecundity .................................................. 4 

Larvae and Postlarvae ............................................... 4 

Juveniles ........................................................... 4 

Adults .......................................................... 5 

Migration ........................................................... 5 

GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS ................................................ 5 

THE FISHERY .............................................................. 6 

ECOLOGICAL ROLE .......................................................... 6 

Food Habits and Predation ........................................... 6 

Abundance ........................................................ 7 

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS .................................................... 8 

Pollutants ......................................................... 8 

Diseases and Parasites .............................................. 8 

Water Temperature ................................................... 8 

Sal i ni ty ............................................................ 8 

Di ssol ved Oxygen .................................................... 10 

Light ............................................................... 10 

Substrate ....................................................... 10 

Pressure ..................................................... 11 

Sound ............................................................. 11 

LITERATURE CITED ......................................................... 12 
CONVERSION TABLE 

Metric to U.S. Customary 

Mu1 tiply !L To Obtain 

mil 1 imeters (mn) 

centimeters ( cm) 

meters (m) 

ki 1 meters ( km) 

2 

square meters (m ) 

square ki 1 meters ( km2) 

hectares (ha) 

liters (1) 

cubic meters (m3) 

cubic meters 

mill igrams (mg) 

grams (g) kilograms (k ) 

metric tons t) 

metric tons 

9 

ki 1 ocal ories ( kcal ) 

inches 

inches 

feet 

mil es 

square feet 

square miles 

acres 

gal 1 ons 

cubic feet 

acre- feet 

ounces 

ounces 

pounds 

pounds 

short tons 

British thermal units 

Cel s ius degrees 1.8(C0) + 32 Fahrenheit degrees 

U.S. Customary to Metric 

inches 25.40 

inches 2.54 

feet (ft) 0.3048 

fathoms 1.829 

miles (mi) 1.609 

nautical miles (mi) 1.852 

square feet (ft2) 

acres 2 

square miles (mi ) 

gallons (gal) 3.785 

cubic feet (ft3) 0.02831 

acre- feet 1233.0 

ounces (02) 28.35 

pounds (lb) 0.4536 

short tons (ton) 0.9072 

British thermal units (Btu) 0.2520 

mil 1 imeters 

centimeters 

meters 

meters 

kil meters 

ki 1 meters 

square meters 

hectares 

square ki 1 ometers 

1 i ters 

cubic meters 

cubic meters 

grams 

ki 1 og rams 

metric tons 

ki 1 ocal ori es 

Fahrenheit degrees 0.5556(F0 - 32) Cel s ius degrees 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

I am grateful for the reviews and suggestions by Dr. David S. Peters, 

National Marine Fisheries Service Southeast Fisheries Center, Beaufort, North 

Carolina, and Dr. Stephen T. Ross, Department of Biology, University of 

Southern Mississippi , Hattiesburg , Mississippi . The staff of the Mississippi 

Gulf Coast Research Laboratory Library in Ocean Springs provided valuable 

reference services and assistance. 
Figure 1. Pinfish. 

PINFISH 

Scientific name, ................ Lagodon 

rhomboides (Li nnaeus) 

Preferred common name.. ......... Pi nf i s h 

Other common names.. . .Bream, pin perch, 

sand perch, sailor's choice; Spanish 

name -- chopa espina or spined 

bream; Sargo sal6ma; French -- Sar 

saleme; Cajun -- poisson beurre or 

butterfish 

Class.. ................... .Osteichthyes 

Order.. ..................... Perci formes 

Family ......................... Sparidae 

Geographic range: Pinfish (Figure 1) 

inhabi t coastal waters from Massachusetts southward to Florida and 

from Bermuda westward throyghou t the 

Gulf of Mexico (Hoese and Moore 

1977) to the Yucatan Peninsula of 

Mexico (Burgess 1980) includin 

northern Cuba (Randall et al. 19783 

and Bermuda (Burgess 1980). Pinfish 

are rare north of Mary1 and. Col 1 ections of small juveniles in Delaware 

estuaries indicate that they migrate 

from more southern spawning grounds 

(Wang and Kernehan 1979). Pinfish 

are common from Virginia estuaries 

southward (Hi 1 debrand and Cab1 e 

1938), and abundant along the south 

Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico 
coasts of the United States 

(Schimmel 1977). The distribution 

of the pinfish in the northern 

Gulf of Mexico is shown in Figure 

2. 

MORPHOLOGY/IDENTIFICATION AIDS 

Dorsal spines XII, soft rays 11; 

anal spines 111, rays 11; scales 65-70 

in lateral line; 10 rows above and 17 

rows below the lateral line (Hoese and 

Moore 1977). Randall et al. (1978) 

listed 12 dorsal rays and 53 to 68 

scales in the lateral line. Body oval 

and compressed. Mouth comparatively 

small, 2.75 to 3.1 times in head 

length; maxilla reaches only to below 

the anterior margin of the eye. Both 

jaws have eight broad, deeply notched, 

incisorli ke teeth anteriorly and have 

2.5 rows of molarlike teeth laterally 

(Randall et al. 1978). A single small 

forward-directed spine precedes the 12 

spines of the dorsal fin. The body is 

01 ivaceous above; the bluish-s i lver 

sides have yellow longitudinal stripes 

broader than the interspaces. A dark 

shoulder spot is near the origin of the 

lateral line. Six dark, diffused, 

vertical bars mark the body. Anal and 

forked caudal fins are yellow with 

broad light-blue margins (Randal 1 et 

a1 . 1978). A monotypic genus. 

REASONS FOR INCLUSION IN THE SERIES 

The pinfish is an abundant 

estuarine dependent fish that usually 

inhabits vegetated marine bottoms, 

rocky reefs, jetties, and mangrove 

swamps (Schimmel 1977; Randall et al. 

1978; Burgess 1980; Benson 1982). It 

is so abundant and predaceous that it 

is believed to alter the composition of 

estuarine epif aunal seagrass 

communities (Orth and Heck 1980; Coen 

et al. 1981; Stoner 1980, 1982). 

Because of its small size, the 

pi nf i sh 1 ack s widespread appeal 

(Randall et al. 1978). If prepared 

while fresh, however, the fish is 

acceptably palatable. Commerci a1 catch 

statistics include the pinfish in the 

unclassified or industrial fish 

category (Randall et al. 1978). 

Pinfish has a potential value as a 

baitfish (Breuer 1962; Migdalski and 

Fichter 1976) and is preyed upon by 

many species of commercial and sport 

fishes (Caldwell 1957; Breuer 1962; 

Randall et al. 1978; Schmidt 1979; 

Benson 1982). According to Randall et 

al. (1978), it is also a potential 

source of fish meal. 

Pinfi sh have been used extensively 

.as test fish in pesticide bioassays 

(Finucane 1969; Parrish et al. 1975) 

and physiological experiments 

(McCutcheon 1966; Kjel son and Johnson 

19 76; Burgess 1980). 

LIFE H1:STORY 

Spawning 

The time and location of spawning 

of the pinfish described here are 

inferred by the abundance and 1 ocat i on 

of ripe females and newly hatched 

larvae taken by experimental gear near 

the surface in offshore waters. For 

example, in one area off the 

Mississippi coast, three la;-ge schools 

of more than 1,000 pinfish each were 

observed near the surface in waters 

about 38 m deep (Springer 1957). A1 1 

females sampled with a cast net were 

ripe and may have been spawning. 

Spawning location is probably related 

more to depth and water temperature 

than to distance offshore (Johnson 

1978). Small pinfish have been 

collected in January along the Texas 

coast near passes in the open gulf 

(Gunter 1945). A1 though spawning 

concentrations of pinf ish were observed 

off the Mississippi coast in winter, 

Christmas and Waller (1973) indicated 

that spawning there peaked in the fall. 

Most studies in the gulf have indicated 

offshore spawning in the fall and early 

winter (Gunter 1945; Reid 1954; 

Caldwell 1957; Christmas and Wal ler 

1973; Kjel son and Johnson 1976; 

Johnson 1978; Wang and Kernehan 1979; larvae are 5 to 7 mm long and spines 

Burgess 1980). In Florida coastal begin to differentiate when the larvae 

waters, most spawning is in February are 8 to 10 mm long. The caudal fin 

through March (Tabb and Manning becomes rounded when the larvae are 8 

1961). to 10 mm, square-ended at 12 mm, and 

concave at 14 mm TL. Teeth are formed 

Eggs and Fecundity 

Data reported on pinfish eggs were 

taken largely from eggs stripped from 

females injected with human chorionic 

gonadotropin and fertilized artifically 

with sperm (Schimmel 1977). The 

diameter of pinfish eggs in different 

samples ranged from 0.90 to 0.93 mm 

(Schimmel 1977) and 0.99 to 1.05 mm 

(Johnson 1978). The eggs usually have 

a single oil globule and a very narrow 

perivi telline space. In the laboratory 

imnature and infertile eggs sank to the 

bottom of finger bowls (Schimmel 1977); 

whereas, fert i 1 e eggs were semi buoyant. 

Larvae that hatched after a 48-h 

incubation at 18°C were 2.3 mm long. 

Eggs with more than one oil droplet 

present did not hatch (Johnson 1978). 

A 15 7-mn long female collected in 

Florida in late November contained an 

estimated 90,000 eggs (Caldwell 1957). 

Hansen (1970) estimated 7,700 to 39,200 

(average 21,600) eggs in eight pinfish 

111 to 152 mm standard length (SL). 

Developmental stages of eggs and 

embryos were i 1 lustrated by Schimmel 

(1977) and Wang and Kernehan (1979). 

Larvae and Post1 arvae 

Early larval stages of pinfish 2.3 

to 2.9 mrn long, 96 h after emergence 

were described and illustrated by 

Schimmel (1977). The yo1 k sac was 

visible 24 h after hatching and was 

completely absorbed by the time the 

larvae were about 2.7 mm long. The 

mouth began to develop after 96 h, when 

the larvae were about 3 mn long. 

Various stages of larval development 

from 2.3 to 13 mn long were described 

by Hi1 debrand and Cable (1938), 

Johnson (1978), and Wang and Kernehan 

( 19 79) . 

Soft rays first appear when the 

by the time the larvae are 10 mm long 

and scales first form when the larvae 

are 15 mm long (Johnson 1978). 

In an early study (Hildebrand and 

Cable 1938), larval pinfish were 

collected from October through Apri 1 

near the surface offshore from 

Beaufort, North Carolina. Catches in 

another study (Thayer et al. 1983) were 

greater at the surface at night than 

during daylight. When the larvae are 

about 11 mm long, they begin moving 

into the estuaries (Johnson 1978; Wang 

and Kernehan 1979). Larvae 11 to 18 mm 

long were collected from December 

through March in plankton tows at Dog 

Keys Pass off Horn Island in the 

Mississippi Sound (Christmas and Waller 

1973) and from late November through 

January near Cedar Key, Florida (Reid 

1954). 

Juven i 1 es 

Juveni les (15-100 mm long) migrate 

into estuaries in the spring and summer 

(Wang and Kernehan 1979). When the 

fish are 16 to 20 mm long, notched 

incisiform teeth appear outside a row 

of conical teeth and gradually rep1 ace 

the conical teeth (Johnson 1978). When 

the fish are 30 mm long, the color 

pattern is similar to that of the 

adult, and when they are about 44 mm 

long, the caudal fin becomes more 

deeply forked and the pectoral fin 

increases disproportionately in length. 

Most pi nf ish become sexually mature at 

lengths of 80 to 100 mm (Hansen 1970; 

Johnson 1978). 

In the Mississippi Sound, firstyear juveniles begin to migrate into 

the estuaries in March and increase in 

abundance there until May (Christmas 

and Waller 1973). Juvenile pinfish in 

northwest Florida marshes first 
appeared in estuaries . in March and 

increased in numbers until June when 

a1 1 juveniles moved offshore 

(Zi lberberg 1966). Juveniles first 

appeared in January in the inshore 

waters of Cedar Key, Florida (Reid 

1954), and in January to March, 

juveniles had moved into Aransas Bay 

and Copano Bay, Texas (Gunter 1945). 

Small juveni les (20-80 mm long) 

were most abundant in vegetated, 

shallow flats of estuaries (Reid 1954; 

Kilby 1955; Reid 1956; Zilberberg 1966; 

Clark 1970; Hansen 1970; Swingle 1971; 

Cl ark 1974; Johnson 1978). Juveni les 

occasionally have been collected in 

fresh waters (McClane 1964; Randall et 

al. 1978; Johnson 1978; Burgess 1980). 

Young pinfish rarely venture outside of 

seagrass-covered habitat into sand 

patches, except at night, when they 

inhabit open sandy bottoms (Stoner 

1979) . 

Adults 

Adult pi nf i sh have been reported 

by Reid (1954) to be abundant in 

channels and vegetated flats, but 

Johnson (1978) reported that they 

prefer open water. In contrast, Odum 

et al. (1982) reported that adult 

pinf ish prefer vegetated substrate. 

According to Clark (1974) trawl catches 

of pinfish in Whitewater Bay, Florida, 

were highest at night when tidal 

currents were low and where aquatic 

vegetation was abundant. Pinfish 

select cover or rest on the bottom at 

night under off shore pl atforms near 

Panama City, Florida (Hastings et al. 

1976), but they are free-swimmi ng 

during the day (Caldwell 1957). 

According to Caldwell (1957) most 

pinfish in Florida mature in their 

second year of life (the smallest 

mature female was 128 mm long) and 

first spawn in their third year (age 

2), but Hansen (1970) observed pinfish 

in northwest Florida that spawned late 

in their first and second year of life 

and all mature fish were 110 mm SL or 

longer. Most pinfish mature during the 

fdll offshore spawning migration or at 

offshore spawning sites (Hansen 1970). 

Catches of pinfish with experimental fishing gear give some idea of 

their size range. Those caught in gill 

nets near Panama City, Florida, ranged 

from 115 to 240 mm FL and averaged 160 

mm (Pristas and Trent 1978). In trawl 

samples in shallow water, only about 1% 

were longer than 100 mm SL and none 

exceeded 128 mm SL (Reid 1954). 

Migration 

After hatching in offshore waters 

in fall and winter, larval pinfish 

migrate into the estuaries where they 

grow in the summer (Wang and Kernehan 

1979). Larval pinfish exhibited higher 

relative abundance (70%) than diurnal 

abundance (30%) according to Thayer et 

a1 . (1933 ). Juveni 1 es usual ly inhabit 

the shal low estuaries but when surface 

water temperatures exceed 3 2OC, most 

seek the deeper, cooler water of 

channel s (Zi 1 berberg 1966; Cameron 

1969). 

Pinfish migrate out of the 

estuaries in late fall (Weinstein et 

al. 1977, Wang and Kernehan 1979) to 

their spawning grounds where they 

congregate (Springer 1957; Randal 1 et 

al. 1978) into size groups (Moe and 

Martin 1965; Hansen 1970; Benson 1982). 

In Texas, Gunter (1945) reported 

capturing pinfish from offshore 

waters only from November to January; 

Cameron (1969) reported that 1 arge 

pinfish left shallow flats when water 

temperatures dropped below 10°C, whereas some juveniles remained inshore. 

Adults were reported to be abundant in 

January and February (Zil berberg 1966) 

and in December through February in St. 

Andrew Bay, Florida (Pristas and Trent 

1978). 

GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS 

Pinfish embryos develop rapidly in 

the egg. Yolksac larvae are 2.3 mm 

long 48 h after emergence (at 18°C) and 
2.9 mm long when their yolk sac is absorbed (in about 96 h) (Schimmel 1977). 

The larvae begin to migrate shoreward 

when they are about 11 mm long (Johnson 

1978) and grow from 18 mm in March to 

52 mm by June in northwest Florida 

(Zi 1 berberg 1966). In northwest Florida, the daily growth of age 0 pinfish 

was 0.32 mm in spring, 0.23 mm in 

sumlner, and 0.1 mm in fall (Hansen 

1970). Daily growth of age 1 fish was 

0.32 mm in the spring, 0.21 mm in the 

summer, 0.04 mm in the fall, and 0.02 

mm in the winter. The annual daily 

growth rate was 0.12 mm. The growth 

increment was 65 to 110 mm at the end 

of their first year (age 0); 55 mm at 

the end of the second year (age I), and 

45 mn at the end of the third year (age 

2). The annulus formed on scales in 

April of the second year of 1 ife (age 

1). Age 1 pinfish in Texas were 103 to 

143 mm long in May (Gunter 1945). 

Maximum lengths of pinfish 

reported in the 1 iterature were 400 mm 

(Randall et al. 1978) and 343 mm 

(McClane 1964) ; 365 mm TL in Louisiana 

(Ounham 1972); 330 mm (Hildebrand and 

Cable 1938) and 245 mm (Schwartz and 

Tyler 1970) in North Carolina; 250 mm 

in Texas-Louisiana (Hoese and Moore 

1977); and 240 mm FL in Florida 

(Pri stas and Trent 1978). Conversion 

factors calculated by He1 1 ier (1962) 

from 100 pinfis h (44 to 101 mm SL) were 

standard length (SL) = 0.85 fork 

length, and 0.78 total length. 

Hell ier (1962) calculated a 

length-weight equation as Log Wt(g) = 

-4.3734 + 2.9136 Log L(sL), and Cameron 

(1969) calculated a length-weight 

relationship for 135 pinfish in Redfish 

Bay, Texas, as Log Wt(g) = -4.353 + 

2.903 Log L . Larval 'pinfish lengthwe'ght relaLTb)lship was ~t = 0.0089 

~~"~~(Hoss 1974). (9) 

THE FISHERY 

According to descriptions of the 

pinfish in the literature, the fish has 

. . little food value (Schwartz and Tyler 

1970), is edible when cooked whole 

(Hoese and Moore 1977), or has a fine 

flavor (Zim and Schoemaker 1955). 

Anglers have condemned pinf ish for 

stealing bait from their hooks (Chute 

1964; Schwartz and Tyler 1970; 

Migdalski and Fichter 1976; Hoese and 

Moore 1977). Pinfish caught by anglers 

for food and bait along the Mississippi 

coast contributed less than 17% of the 

total catch in a July through December 

sportfishing survey in the Mississippi 

Sound (Jackson 1972). Most of the 

pinfish caught by headboat fishermen in 

Texas coastal bays and the Gulf of 

Mexico are included in the sport catch 

(McEachron and Matlock 1983). 

Pinfish are not listed in 

commerci a1 fishery statistics because 

they are combined with unclassified 

species or industrial fish (Roithmayr 

1965; Dunham 1972). They are caught 

incidentally in gill nets (Pristas and 

Trent 1978), trammel nets, beach 

seines, traps, hook and 1 ine (Randall 

et al. 1978), and purse seines in the 

menhaden fishing off the Mississippi 

River (Christmas et al. 1960). 

Pinfish yield a high grade of oil but 

few, if any, are now used for that 

purpose (Hi ldebrand and Cable 1938) . Gillnet selectivity for pinfish has 

been reported from St. Andrew Ba , Florida, by Trent and Pristas (19777. 

ECOLOGICAL ROLE 

Food Habits and Predation 

Known predators on pinfish are 

1 adyf i sh (Gunter 1945) , porpoises 

(Springer 1957), spotted seatrout 

(Breuer 1962) , a1 1 igator gar (Goodyear 

1967) , and gul f flounder (Ashton 1980). 

Larval pinfish feed mainly on calanoid 

copepods (Stoner 1979). Juveni 1 e 

pinfish 20 to 80 mm long selectively 

feed on amphipods in Apalachee Bay, 

Florida (Stoner 1979, 1980, 1982). 

Pinfish, 15 to 19 mm long, in the 

Newport River estuary of North 

Carolina, fed more heavily near mid-day 
when tidal currents were low (Kjelson 

and Johnson 1976). In 1 aborat ory 

experiments, feeding intensity was 

greatest at a water temperature of 

24°C. Feeding stopped at temperatures 

above 35" and below 6°C (Peters et al. 

1973). Stomach evacuation time at 24°C 

was 28 to 37 h (Peters and Hoss 1974). 

The consumption rate was about 0.05 

calorie per milligram of fish per day 

(Kjelson and Johnson 1976). 

Pinfish change their diet as they 

increase in size and tooth structure 

changes. At 16 to 20 mm long, when 

notched incisiform teeth usually appear 

(Johnson 1978), juvenile pinfish fed on 

shrimp, mysids, and amphipods (Carr and 

Adams 1973). The selection of 

amphipods by pinfish 16 to 80 mm long 

(SL) appears to be a function of 

macrophyte density (Stoner 1979). The 

five major ontogenetic stages in 

pinfish diets appears to be primarily a 

function of mouth size and changes 

in inci si form teeth. Pi nfi sh demonstrated planktivory, omnivory, strict 

carnivory, and strict herbivory at 

different times, locations, and stages 

of development (Stoner 1980). An 

increase in mouth width and height with 

an increase in pinfish body size 

enables pinfish to capture a larger 

size of prey (Stoner 1979, 1980). 

The high abundance of pinfish in 

many inshore coastal waters and 

estuaries is certain to have broad 

ecological effects on the aquatic flora 

and fauna. Pi nfish are numerical ly 

dominant among fish in seagrass habitat 

in shallow subtidal areas of Gulf of 

Mexico and the southeast Atlantic coast 

( Stoner 1980) . The intensity of 

pinfish predation on amphipods in 

seagrass communities in spring and 

summer probably limit amphi pod 

abundance there. The consumption of 

plant material and detritus by pinfish 

(Darnel1 1961; Carr and Adams 1973; 

Adams 1976) contributes to the export 

of organic materials in estuaries, 

especi a1 ly where eelgrass contributes 

up to 64% of the total primary 

production (Adams 1976). On the basis 

of routine metabolism, pinfish use 1.7% 

of the total yearly energy available to 

secondary consumers in the Newport 

River estuary in North Carolina (Hoss 

1974). Pinfish are valuable forage for 

larger fishes in estuaries (Caldwell 

1957; Breuer 1962; Schmidt 1979), and 

are useful as bait (Caldwell 1957; 

McCl ane 1964; Migdalski and Fichter 

1976; Randall et al. 1978). 

Abundance 

Pinfish are reported to rank most 

abundant in collections at Cedar Key, 

Florida (Reid 1954), second at Marco 

Island, south of Nap1 es, Florida 

(Weinstein et al. 1977), third in a 

coastal marsh in northwest Florida 

(Zi lberberg 1966), and fourth among 

fish in St Andrew Bay, Florida (Pristas 

and Trent 1978). In the abundance of 

spiny-rayed fish, pinfish ranked first 

in Florida Bay, southwest Florida (Tabb 

and Manning 1961), and second in 

Whitewater Bay, Evergl ades National 

Park, Florida (Clark 1970). Juvenile 

pinfish are abundant in winter and 

early spring in the surf of Horn 

Island, 14 km off the Mississippi 

mainland (Modde and Ross 1981) and in 

Mississippi's estuaries in summer and 

fall (Christmas and Waller 1973). 

Pinfish were the 11th most abundant 

fish in marsh and bayou waters 

southeast of New Orleans, Louisiana 

(Rounsefell 1964) ; the most abundant 

fish in August through October along 

the Louisiana coast (Perret 1971) ; 

ranked second most abundant in Laguna 

Madre of Texas (Hell ier 1962) ; abundant 

in Rollover Pass near Gilchrist, Texas 

(Reid 1956); and fifth most abundant in 

Aransas Bay, Texas (Moore 1978). They 

were considered a major fish species in 

the Colorado River (Texas) Estuary 

(Diener 1973). Pi nf i sh 1 arvae were 

reported to be scarce and restricted to 

inlets in Tamiahua Lagoon below 

Tampico, Mexico (Flores-Coto et a1 . 1983). Standing stock estimated by 

Naughton and Saloman (1978) placed the 

pinfish as the second most abundant 

species in central St. Andrew Bay, 

Florida, where it contributed 22% of 
the 37.5 kg of fish per hectare. The 

estimated biomass of pinf ish in Laguna 

Madre, Texas, varied from a monthly 

high of 30 1 b per acre in June to a low 

of 4 1b per acre in November to January 

(He1 1 i er 1962). Production estimates 

varied from a 9 1b (4.1 kg) per acre 

high in June to a low of 0 in November. 

No more than 2% of the age 0 pinfish 

survived from hatching to reach age 1 

in the following February (Hell ier 

1962). 

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS 

Pollutants 

In bioassays, pinfish were highly 

sensitive to the pesticide Antimycin A 

at 7 ppb (Finucane 1969), as well as 

PCB's (Hansen et a1 . 1971) and mirex 

(Tagatz 1976). Petrochemical wastes 

from a Corpus Christi turning basin 

depressed respiratory rates of the 

pinfish and caused up to 10% mortality 

(Wohlschlag and Cameron 1967). 

Diseases and ~arasi tes 

Streptococcus sp. is the major 

disease of inf fish a1 ons the A1 abama 

and Fl orida coast (~l umb -et a1 . 19 74) . Major parasites are the isopod 

Li roneca oval is (Richardson 1905) and 

the haema tozoan Haemogreyari na 

bigemina (Becker 19 70). 

Water Tem~erature 

P i n f i s h in estuaries tolerate 

water temperatures of 10°C to 35°C 

(Table 1). The upper temperature 

tolerance of pinfish is about 33°C 

(Cameron 1969). In fall, pinfish 

mi grate from estuaries to offshore 

spawning sites. Water temperature has 

been suggested as the major factor 

triggering emi gration (Johnson 1978). 

Oxygen consumption of juveni le and 

adult pinfish in 1 abor atory 

respirometers increases with an 

increase of water temperature from 5' 

to 30°C, especially above 20°C (Hoss 

1974). Metabolism increases with water 

temperatures up to 33°C (Cameron 1969; 

Wohlschlag and Cech 1970; Hoss 1974). 

The swimming speed of juvenile pinfish 

(40 mm) increased up to 11 times their 

body length per second in relation to 

increased temperature (Hett 1 er 1977) . Food evacuation rates in pinfish 

decreased as water temperature decl ined 

from 30°C to 12°C (Peters et al. 1973); 

all feeding. ceased at 6°C. Pinfish are 

relatively active at 7.6"C (Hellier 

1962). Large numbers of pinfish (70 to 

150 mm SL) were killed on the east 

coast of Florida when surface water 

temperatures dropped to 4°C (Snelson 

and Bradley 1979). Larger numbers of 

pinfish died during a severe cold spell 

in Copano Bay, Texas (Gunter 1941). 

Larval pinfish mortality is high at 

temperatures below 4°C in North 

Carolina (Lewis and Mann 1971). 

Pinfish stopped feeding when water 

temperatures reached 36°C and survived 

only one day at 37°C (Peters et al. 

1973). Juvenile pinfish leave 

northwest Florida marshes before 

surface water temperatures reached 41°C 

in June (Zi 1 berberg 1966). Pinf ish 

larvae withstood 12°C temperature 

shocks at acclimation temperatures of 

5", lo0, 15"C, but 18°C was fatal (Hoss 

et al. 1974). 

Higher water temperatures increase 

erythrocyte abundance and hematocrit in 

pinfish (Houston 1973). High 

temperatures increased hemoglobin 

concentration and red blood cell counts 

but decreased hematocri t and mean 

erythrocyte volume (Cameron 1970). 

Salinity 

Pinfish live in waters with 

salinities as low as 1 ppt and as high 

as 75 ppt (He1 1 ier 1962) and, in 

Florida , some enter freshwater (Burgess 

1980) . In the northern Gulf of 

Mexico, pinfish tolerate salinities 

of 0 to 37.5 ppt (Table 1). No 

relation was found between salinity or 

temperatures and the arrival of 

juvenile pinfish in estuaries (Hansen 

19 70) ; but a positive re1 ation between 
Table 1. Numbers of pinfish captured by experimental gear in waters of different sal ini - 

ties and temperatures. 

Water 

Salinities temperatures No. Method 01 

(PP~) ("c) fish capture State Reference 

S 

S-T 

T-S-L 

T-S 

Zi lberberg 1966 

Gunter and Hall 1965 

Swingle 1971 

Christmas and Wal ler 

197 3 

T 

T-S 

T 

Perret 1971 

Perret and Cai 1 louet 

1974 

Tarver and Savoic 

1976 

T 

T- S 

T-S-N 

T-S 

LA 

LA 

TX 

TX 

FL-GA 

NC 

Barrett et al. 1978 

Juneau 1975 

Gunter 1945 

Cameron 1969 

Swift et al. 1977 

Tagatz and Dudley 

1961 

T-P-L Hoss 1974 

a Trawl (T), Seine (S), Larval net (L), Tranmel net (N), and Traps (P). 
'recruitment of p i n f i s h and salinity in 

north Florida salt marshes was reported 

by Subrahmanyam and Drake (1975). 

Roessl er (1970) reported a negative 

relation between rainfall and catch of 

pinf ish. 

Juvenile pinfish are less able to 

withstand thermal shock if salinity 

al so changes, i .e., they suffered from 

a temperature-sal ini ty synergistic 

interaction effect. For example, at a 

salinity of 15 ppt, no mortality was 

reported for juveniles after being 

exposed 40 min to water temperature 

increased to 32OC, but a mortality of 

about 20% was observed when the water 

temperature was 12OC and the salinity 

increased from 20 to 30 ppt (Hoss et 

al. 1974). 

Di ssolved Oxvaen 

Respiration studies on pinfish 

weighing 0.013 to 240 g revealed lower 

rates of oxygen consumption in smal ler 

fish and indicated that the relation 

between body size and respiration rate 

depended on the life history stage of 

the fish (Hoss and Peters 1976). The 

metabol i sm-weight regression (K) for 

fish of different weight was 0.99 for 

fish weighing less than 0.2 g, 0.15 

for fish weighing 0 to 10 g, and 0.73 

for fish above 10 g. Oxygen consumption rates were related also to temperatures and swimming velocities. 

Oxygen-carrying capacity of pi nfi sh 

blood increases in response to lowered 

environmental oxygen , increased 

exercise, and fncreased salinity but 

does not compensate entirely for the 

increased respiratory demand caused by 

these changes (Cameron 1970). 

Light 

Die1 distribution of pinfish in 

experimental cages in a thermal 

effluent channel was directly related 

to low ambient light conditions 

governed by the time of day and 

turbidity (Romanowsky and Strawn 1979). 

No nocturnal-diurnal differences in 

catches of larval pinfish in 

experimental gear were reported by 

Shenker and Dean (1979) but Thayer et 

al. (1983) caught 70% of the pinfish 

larvae at night. Juvenile pinfish 

approached sandy bottom substrate only 

at night (Stoner 1979), whereas large 

pinfish rested at night in cover and on 

the bottom at offshore platforms 

(Hastings et al. 1976). Pinfish fed 

during day1 ight (Wohlschl ag and Cameron 

1967; Peters and Kjelson 1975); 

juvenile pinfish fed most heavily at 

mid-day (Kjelson and Johnson 1976). 

Pinfish have been trained to react 

faster to visual stimuli than to 

auditory stimuli (Marcucell a and 

Abramson 1978). Wohlschl ag and Cameron 

(1967) reported that pinfish exhibited 

more excitability and nonlocomotor 

activity than most marine fishes used 

in laboratory studies. 

Substrate 

Pinf i sh prefer vegetated bottoms 

in Gulf of Mexico estuaries and along 

the southeast Atlantic coast (Reid 

1954; Gunter and Hall 1965; Zilberberg 

1966; Clark 1970; Hansen 1970; Coen et 

al. 1981). Most fin-clipped pinfish in 

mark-recapture studies inhabited grass 

flats until they migrated out of the 

estuary in late summer and fall (Hansen 

1970). Pinfish are usually active 

foragers and make no attempt to conceal 

themselves, but can burrow into sand 

when startled (Coen et al. 1981). 

The abundance and type of 

submerged vegetation in estuaries 

depends on bottom type, turbidity, 

salinity, water temperature, bottom 

slope, and tidal range (Etzold et al. 

1983). Nearly 50% of the estuarine 

bottoms along the southern Florida gulf 

coast are covered by submerged 

vegetation which may account for the 

high abundance of pinfish fish there. 

The abundance of submerged vegetation 

decreases northward and covers only 5% 

of the bottom in coastal waters of the 

Florida panhandle and the northern gulf 

coast (Etzold et al. 1983). Of about 

800,000 acres (32,300 ha) of submerged 

estuarine vegetation along northern 
Gulf of Mexico coastline, 63% is in 

Florida and 31% in lower Texas (Linda11 

and Saloman 1977). 

Pressure 

Pinfish exhibit a yawn reaction 

within 0.5 to 2.0 minutes in response 

to a 0.5 cm3 volume pressure increase 

(McCutcheon 1966) ; consequently, they 

can be expected to react to tidal 

changes to maintain buoyance drift. 

Pinfish adapted to gradient chambers 

established a base reference point to 

which they reacted within 0.1 s to 

pressure changes of less than 0.5 cm 

water pressure. In thermal effluents 

pinfish detected and avoided 

supersaturated (total gases) surf ace 

waters by seeking deeper waters 

(Romanowsky and Strawn 1979). 

Sound 

When held out of the water, 

pinfish make a scraping sound by 

sliding the upper and lower incisor 

teeth (Burkenroad 1931), but no 

evi dence of underwater sounds 

attributable to pinfish were detected 

by Breder (1968) in Lemon Bay, Florida. 

Pinfish could be trained to meet 

avoidance criterion when trained with 

auditory st imul i (Marcucell a and 

Abramson 1978). The critical masking 

ratio for auditory analysis falls 

within the band width measured for 

mammals, including man (Fay 1978). 
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checklist of the flora and fauna 

of northern Florida Bay and 

adjacent brackish waters of the 

- -- 

Florida mainland collected during 

the period July 1957 through 

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Gulf Cari bb. l(4) : 552-649. 

Tagatz, M.E. 1976. Effect of mirex on 

predator-prey interaction in an 

experimental estuarine ecosystem. 

Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 105(4): 

546-549. 

Tagatz, M.E., and D.L. Dudley. 1961. 

Seasonal occurrence of marine 

fishes in four shore habitats near 

Beaufort, North Carol ina, 1957- 

1960. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. 

Spec. Sci. Rep. Fish. 390. 19 pp. 

Tarver, J.W., and L.B. Savoic. 1976. 

An inventory and study of the 

Lake Pontchartrain - Lake Maurepas 

estuarine complex. La. Wi ldl. 

Fish. Com. Tech. Bull. 19:7-99. 

Thayer, G.W., D.R. Colby, M.A. Kjelson, 

and M.P. Weinstein. 1983. 

Estimates of 1 arval-f ish 

abundance: diurnal variation and 

influences of sampling gear and 

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Soc. 112(2B) :272-279. 

Trent, L., and P.J. Pristas. 1977. 

Selectivity of gill nets on 

estuarine and coastal fishes from 

St. Andrew Bay, Florida. U.S. 

Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv. Fish. Bull. 

75(1) : 185-196. 

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(Chapter 33) in Fishes of the 

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Comunications, Towson, Md. 410 

PP 

Weinstein, M.P., C.M. Courtney, and 

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physi cochemi cal and biological 

parameters. Fl a. Sci. 40(2) : 

97-124. 
Woh 

Woh 

schlag, D.E., and J.N. Cameron. 

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stress on the respiratory 

metabolism of the pinf ish (Lagodon 

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2' - /l 

schlag, D.E., and J.J. Cech, Jr. 

1970. Size of pinfish in relation 

to thermal stress response. 

Contrib. Mar. Sci. 15:20-29. 

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occurrence of fishes in a coastal 

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11: 126-134. 

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60 PP* 
50371 -101 

REPORT DOCUMEKTATION nLm"T NO. 

PACE 1 FWS.OBs-82/11.26* I I 

4. Tnl* end Cubtllle 

Species Profil es: Life histories and environmental requirements 

of coastal fishes and invertebrates (Gulf of Mexico) -- Pinfish 

2. I l. ~.CID)*. *cc*..b.n N.. 

% n*m 0.1. 

Sentember 1984 

Muncy, Robert J. 

*u.s. Army Corps of Engineers Report No. TR EL-82-4 

. . 

12. Swnsonne Ot#antxat)on ~ame ad Addr.8~ 

National Coastal Ecosystems Team U.S. Amy Corps of Engineers 

Fish and Wildlife Service Waterways Experiment Station 

U.S. Department of the Interior P.O. Box 631 

Washington, DC 20240 Vicksburg, MS 39180 

L Ab.tr.ct (Llmlu 200 wd81 

jpeci es profiles are literature summaries of the taxonomy, morphology, life history, and 

environmental requirements of coastal aquatic species. They are prepared to assist in 

envi ronmental impact assessment. The pi nfi sh (Lagodon rhomboi des) is an abundant and 

important marine fish which can a1 ter estuarine epifaunal seagrass cornunities as well as 

serve as forage for camnercial and sport fishes. Pinfish have been extensively used in 

pesticide bioassays, physiological experiments, and ecological studies. Adults and most 

large juveniles move offshore in late fall. They spawn offshore during fall and winter. 

Semibuoyant eggs hatch after 48 hours at 180C. Larval pinfish (11 mn TL) move into 

estuarine nursery grounds soon after hatching, where they feed on calanoid copepods. 

Juvenile pinfish are most abundant in seagrass-covered habitats where they feed on amphi- 

~ods. Pinfish change their diet as body size and tooth structure changes. Growth 

increments were 65 to 110 rm, 55 mm, and 45 rn long at the end of their first through third 

years of life, respectively. Pinfish are used for food and bait by anglers and are 

cabined with unclassified species or industrial fish in commercial fisheries statistics. 

Pinf i sh inhabit inshore mters when temperatures are above 10°C and below 35'C. They are 

abundant in a broad range of salinities. 

' . 

v. C.aormtn# Oee*n~ratmn N.-W -nd AWWSS I 10. c~~oI*c~/I*s~/w*~L unit NO. 

Mississippi Cooperative Fish and Wild1 ife Research Unit 

P.O. Drawer BX 11. -lr*ct(C) a* c..-~(G) NO. 

Mississippi State University 

Mississippi State, MS 39762-5603 

11. TIC- of n*wn b FW~Q C-~Q 

14. 

r. Document An.l*.ls a. Dounmon 

Estuaries 

'ishes 

Srowth 

'eed i ng 

-agodon rhomboi des 

;a1 i ni ty requirements 

remperature requi rements 

-i fe hi stor C. COEITl f,.tdXllU. 

Spawning 

Unlimited 

ANSl-ZJ9.Ie) OPllOu&L fOIU 172 14-71. 

Unclassified m. S.ruv61r Class clr,. ?.,I 

Unclaqrif~~d . . 18 22. Cvac. 
REGION 1 

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As the Nation's principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior has responsibility for most of our,nationally owned public lands and natural resources. This includes 

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