---
title: "Pigfish"
description: "Orthopristis chrysoptera — Fish. Orthopristis chrysoptera, the pigfish, hogfish, piggy perch, redmouth grunt or sailor's choice, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grunt belonging to the family Haemulidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/pigfish
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Pigfish

> Orthopristis chrysoptera — Fish. Orthopristis chrysoptera, the pigfish, hogfish, piggy perch, redmouth grunt or sailor's choice, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grunt belonging to the family Haemulidae.

- Scientific name: *Orthopristis chrysoptera*
- Category: `fish` (Fish)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 2308
- Wikidata: [Q2383492](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2383492)
- iNaturalist taxon: [49431](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/49431)

## Names

- en: Pigfish
- de: Kleinmaul-Grunzer
- es: Corocoro armado
- nl: Varkenvis

## Countries with the most observations

US (2135), MX (18)

## Summary

Orthopristis chrysoptera, the pigfish, hogfish, piggy perch, redmouth grunt or sailor's choice, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grunt belonging to the family Haemulidae. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean. This name derives from the grunting or chattering noise these fish make by rubbing their pharyngeal teeth together.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthopristis_chrysoptera

## Photo

![Pigfish](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/pigfish/medium.jpg)

Photo: Nick Loveland · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/75367183

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/pigfish?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).