This fish is found in the western Atlantic Ocean. Prionotus carolinus can be identified by its broad spiny head, tapering body, blue eyes, and large, wing-like pectoral fins. The dorsal surface is reddish or grayish, the chin black, the belly pale and the fins reddish-brown with darker edges and paling to grayish-white at their bases. Three lower rays of the northern sea robins pelvic fins are feelers used to walk along the bottom, so as to stir up bottom sediments to find food. Northern searobins grow to an average of 17 inches (43 cm) long. Prionotus carolinus is found in shallow seas from is found in the western Atlantic where its range extends from Nova Scotia along the Atlantic coast of the United States into the Gulf of Mexico as far as the upper Florida Keys where they are found in estuaries to the edge of the continental shelf. They prefer the sandy bottoms of the waterbed, where they feed by kicking up sediment to find food, using their legs.
