Image source: Squidpastry | inaturalist.org
These small in-shore fish are territorial and loyal to the home hole or crevice that they have made or found. They are brown on top, fading to white underneath, with darker vertical bars, a mid-line stripe ending in a dark spot at the tail, and irregular blue horizontal lines. They have large eyes, a continuous dorsal fin, and a concave caudal (tail) fin. They prefer shallow bays or reefs, where they eat crustaceans and small fish and avoid being eaten by larger fish. The sand perch reaches a maximum length of 12 inches (30 cm), although they are observed more commonly at sizes from 5-9 inches (13-23 cm). Maximum age of the sand perch is probably from 6-7 years. This fish reaches maturity at lengths of 5 inches (12.5 cm), corresponding to an age of 2 or 3 years. The sand perch is found in the western Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina (US), the Gulf of Mexico and Bahamas, south to Uruguay. It is common off the coast of Florida (US) and rare to absent throughout the western Caribbean.
