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Saucer-eye Porgy
West Indies, north to the Florida Keys. It has been recorded from Martinique, Jamaica, Porto Rico, Cuba, and various places in southern Florida. About Key West and Havana it is generally common, but less abundant than the little-head and jolt-head porgies. Its Spanish name is pez de pluma or pluma. At Key West the conchs assure you that its English name is correctly pronounced sasser-eye. It reaches a length of a foot and a weight of a pound or more, though the weight of those seen in market does not usually exceed 1/2 pound. It is an excellent food-fish and always commands a good price. It takes the hook readily, and affords considerable sport as a game-fish.
Colour in life, silvery with bluish reflections; the base and central portion of each scale golden, forming distinct longitudinal stripes, the stripes between these pearly or bluish; rows of scales on cheek and opercles with the pearly stripe median, the golden marginal; a deep violet stripe below orbit, not extending forward on snout nor backward on opercles; preorbital deep dull violet like the snout, the ground colour forming reticulations around conspicuous round brassy spots which cover half the surface; lower jaw dusky-violet; axil golden; fins all pale, vaguely blotched with dull orange; iris golden.