[2][3] The Littlehead porgy was first formally described in 1884 by the Ichthyologists David Starr Jordan and Charles Henry Gilbert with its type locality given as Key West in Florida.

This is an allusion to the large canine-like teeth on either side of the upper jaw in adults, these are diagonally pointing downwards and outwards.

[8] When compared to other members of their genus, they can be distinguished by having small scales, and relatively deep bodies with steep profiles.

[9] Littlehead porgies are generally silver in color, with violet spots on their scales that form stripes on their upper bodies.

Known only from the western Atlantic Ocean, Littlehead porgies are found off the northeast coast of Florida and in the northern Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean,[11] south to the Bay of Campeche, which lies to the west of the Yucatan Peninsula,[12] and northern South America.