How to Identify a Sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus)

• Body markings: Five or six dark vertical crossbars along each side, most distinct in young individuals — hence the nickname "convict fish."
• Teeth: Teeth include well-defined incisors, molars, and grinders, resembling human teeth.
• Body color: Adults are silvery to greenish-yellow with an olive back.
• Chin barbels: No barbels on the lower jaw.

Unlike the black drum, which has chin barbels and crushing throat teeth, the sheepshead lacks chin barbels and has incisor-like teeth. See the Black Drum page for its full mark list.

Occurs mainly inshore around rock pilings, jetties, mangrove roots, and piers, as well as in tidal creeks; prefers brackish water. Distributed in the western Atlantic from Nova Scotia, Canada, through the Gulf of Mexico, with the highest population density in southwest Florida.

Lay the fish flat on its side in even light and photograph the whole body first, then the details below. Get a close, sharp frame of the head: mouth, jaw length and any barbels. Shoot the side of the body before the fish dries; spots and stripes fade fast out of water. The app reads the photo and names the likely species; use the marks on this page to confirm it.

Size and daily limits for this species differ by state and by water, and some waters are catch-and-release only. Check the current regulations for where you are fishing before keeping any fish; if you are unsure of the species, release it.

Archosargus probatocephalus is the scientific name of the sheepshead, a porgy of the family Sparidae. The species name joins the Greek probaton, sheep, and cephalus, head, for the sheep-like face with large teeth showing from an open mouth (Wikipedia). The dorsal fin has 12 spines and 11 soft rays (Wikipedia). The range runs further than many anglers expect: from Nova Scotia south through the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean to Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil (Wikipedia).

Maximum size depends on the source: the Florida Museum gives almost 30 inches and 22 pounds, FWC says up to 36 inches, and Wikipedia gives 91 cm (36 in) with 35 cm typical. Most fish caught are far smaller; FWC says 13 inches is common.

Because they crush shells for a living. The Florida Museum describes well-defined incisors, molars and grinders in both jaws, and Wikipedia says the flattened teeth are adapted for crushing shelled prey. Adults eat blue crabs, oysters, clams, other crustaceans and small fish, and use their teeth to pry barnacles off rocks, pilings, jetties and reefs (Florida Museum; Wikipedia). Texas Parks and Wildlife describes them grazing on barnacles and small shellfish. The same teeth make them good at stealing bait, which is why the hook set matters.

It is well regarded. The Florida Museum calls the flesh fine, white and mild, and Texas Parks and Wildlife says it is excellent though difficult to clean; heavy scales and strong spines make filleting slow, and FWC warns about the sharp gill covers when cleaning. On mercury, the FDA places sheepshead in its Good Choices group, one 4-ounce serving a week for adults (FDA, updated 5 March 2024). For fish you catch yourself, check the local consumption advisory for that water. See edible fish for the full FDA lists.

The all-tackle world record is a 21 lb 4 oz sheepshead caught by Wayne Desselle on 16 April 1982 in St. John Bayou, New Orleans, Louisiana, on shrimp; it is also the Louisiana state record (IGFA). Louisiana therefore holds the biggest sheepshead on record. Florida's state record is 15 lb 2 oz, caught near Homosassa (FWC).

Since sheepshead became eligible for IGFA line-class records in March 2022, new records have come from Virginia's Chesapeake Bay, including a 10 lb 12 oz fish on 20-lb line in July 2022 caught on fiddler crab (IGFA).

• Bait: live shrimp, sand fleas or fiddler crabs on small hooks, fished near the bottom around oyster bars and seawalls (FWC); Texas Parks and Wildlife adds hermit crabs and warns that the fish is an adept bait stealer
• Where: hard structure such as jetties, rock piles, pilings and reefs (Texas Parks and Wildlife)
• When: late winter and spring, when they gather to spawn. Texas Parks and Wildlife gives February and March near Gulf jetties and reefs; FWC gives March to April in Florida; the Florida Museum says they move offshore in late winter and early spring

Spawning numbers from the Florida Museum: a female releases 1,100 to 250,000 eggs per spawning, and eggs hatch about 28 hours after fertilisation at 23°C. Sheepshead live at least 20 years and mature at about 2. Size and bag limits differ by state; Texas lists it as a regulated nongame species, so check the current rules before keeping one.

The name is shared, which causes mix-ups in photos and recipes:

• California sheephead (Bodianus pulcher): a wrasse of the Pacific coast from Monterey Bay to the Gulf of California; males have a fleshy forehead bump, and all start life as females (Wikipedia). It has no convict bars
• Freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens): called sheephead in parts of Canada and the United States, along with gaspergou and grunter (Wikipedia). It lives in fresh water, while Archosargus probatocephalus is a coastal, brackish and saltwater fish; see our freshwater drum page
• Asian sheepshead wrasse (Bodianus reticulatus): a large western Pacific wrasse with a huge forehead in males; see fish with big head