Panamic Porkfish, Anisotremus taeniatus
Panamic Porkfish, Anisotremus taeniatus, Juvenile. Underwater photograph taken in Zihuantanejo Bay, Guerrero, January 2022. Photograph courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuantanejo.
Panamic Porkfish, Anisotremus taeniatus, Juveniles. Underwater photograph taken in Zihuantanejo Bay, Guerrero, January 2022. Photograph courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuantanejo. Photograph also includes one Panamic Sergeant Major and one Silvergray Grunt.
Panamic Porkfish, Anisotremus taeniatus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Baja California Sur, October 2018. Length: 29 cm (11 inches).
Panamic Porkfish, Anisotremus taeniatus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Point Palmilla, Baja California Sur, May 2014. Length: 32 cm (12 inches).
Panamic Porkfish, Anisotremus taeniatus. Underwater photograph taken in coastal waters off Buena Vista, Baja California Sur, July 2017. Photograph courtesy of Bob Hillis, Ivins, Utah.
Panamic Porkfish, Anisotremus taeniatus. Underwater photographs taken in Zihuantanejo Bay, Guerrero, March 2018 and February 2022. Photographs courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuantanejo.
The Panamic Porkfish, Anisotremus taeniatus, is a member of the Grunt or Haemulidae Family, and is known in Mexico as burro bandera. Globally, there are ten species in the genus Anisotremus, of which six are found in Mexican waters, two in the Atlantic and two in the Pacific Ocean.
The Panamic Porkfish has a deep body with a depth that is 45% to 47% of standard length. They have a bright yellow overall appearance, which is also present on their fins, and 2 distinguishing vertical black bars, the first running through their eyes and extending well into their snout and the second beginning just in front of their dorsal fin and reaching their pectoral fins. They also have dark-edged pale blue horizontal stripes on their sides. They have short heads with blunt snouts and small mouths with thick lips. Their anal fin has 3 spines, the second being long and thick, and 9 or 10 rays; their caudal fin is concave; their dorsal fin is continuous with a deep notch with 12 spines, the fourth is the longest, and 15 to 17 rays; and, their pectoral fins are long.
The Panamic Porkfish is an inshore demersal species that is around rocky reefs and caves at depths up to 23 m (75 feet). They reach a maximum of 38 cm (15 inches) in length and 1.0 kg (2 lbs 3 oz) in weight. They are a nocturnal species. They are preyed upon by groupers, sharks, snappers and other large piscivores. The Panamic Porkfish is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Panamic Porkfish is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean but has a limited distribution being found from Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, southward along the southwest coast of Baja, in the southern third of the Sea of Cortez, and along the coast of the mainland south to Guatemala.
The Panamic Porkfish is virtually identical to the Porkfish, Anisotremus virginicus, an Atlantic Ocean only species (silvery-gray color with yellow stripes) and can also be confused with the Blue-and-Gold Snapper, Lutjanus viridis (more aerodynamic body) and the Silvergray Grunt, Anisotremus caesius (lacks line through eye).
From a conservation perspective the Panamic Porkfish is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. The are too rare and to be of interest to most.