Sheepshead

The sheepshead, or “convict fish”, is deep and compressed in body shape, silvery with 5 to 6 dark bars on its sides.  The bars are more distinct on juvenile fish.  It has sharp spines on its dorsal and anal fins, heavy scales and a sharp gill cover.  Several rows of prominent teeth, including incisors, molars, and rounded grinders line the upper and lower jaws.

Large juveniles and adults prey on blue crab, oysters, clams, crustaceans, small fish and barnacles while smaller fish consume plankton and larvae.  Populations of sheepshead in mid-Atlantic coastal waters and the Mississippi Sound spawn in primarily in the early spring although pelagic larvae have been recorded from January through May in the Gulf of Mexico. Adults migrate to offshore waters to spawn, sometimes over artificial reefs and navigation markers, later returning to nearshore waters and estuaries.  It seeks out warmer spots near spring outlets and river discharges and sometimes enters freshwater during the winter months.