Bream, Porgies and Others

Most of the species which fall under this heading are fish which belong to tropical or near-tropical waters and only occasionally stray into colder regions such as the North Atlantic. Thus the Mediterranean contains many species of bream, of which quite a few occur in the Atlantic also; but only as far north as the Bay of Biscay or the English Channel. I have dealt summarily with such species.

On the American side of the North Atlantic there are some excellent porgies (which is the general name corresponding to sea bream) with a range extending to New England or even further north. However, many members of this family (like the groupers) belong essentially to the warmer waters of the Caribbean or Florida and are rarely taken north of the Carolinas, and only in the offshore waters there. Among such species are Calamus leucosteus Jordan and Gilbert, the whitebone porgy, and Calamus nodosus Randall and Caidwell, the knobbed porgy.