Common names: grunt (English), ronco (Espanol)
 
Pomadasys schyrii (Steindachneri, 1900)


Smalleye grunt



Body oblong, strongly compressed;  back high and narrow; head deep, compressed; forehead profile ~ oblique;  mouth short, barely reaching under front of eye, inside not red, lips thin; chin with 2 pores at front and 2 inside hole behind, plus a longitudinal groove; vertical edge of preopercle serrated, those at angle further apart and larger; dorsal fin XII, 12-13, 4th spine longest, moderately notched; anal III, 7, second spine long, robust and curved, reaches ends of longest anal rays, 57% of head length; pectoral fins very long, reaching to level of anus; no scales on membrane between soft dorsal and anal rays; 47 pored lateral line scales; 6 oblique rows of scales between lateral line and origin of dorsal fin.

Overall silvery; a blue-black blotch on the upper operculum; faint dark bars at nape and before dorsal fin.

Maximum size, 22 cm.

Habitat: coastal seas on sandy or muddy bottoms, entering brackish estuaries and river mouths.

Depth: ~ 20 m.

Known only from southern Ecuador and northern Peru.

Very similar to P. macracanthus.