[3] Credit for describing the Jolthead porgy goes to Marcus Elieser Bloch and Johann Gottlob Schneider.

It was so named because the Calamus of myth allowed himself to drown in a river, after the death of his lover, and transform into aquatic plants[6] that some members of the genus make their homes in.

[15] Known only from the western Atlantic Ocean, Jolthead porgies are found from Rhode Island and Bermuda south to Brazil.

[16] They have been collected from beds of seagrass,[17] and commonly swim in clear, shallow water up to 150 feet,[9] (though there have been reports of them as deep as 180[18] and 200 m[11]) where they are normally solitary, but sometimes appear in schools near reefs.

Some sources consider it omnivorous,[7] while others state at its eats mainly other animals such as sea urchins (especially of the genus Diadema[9]), mollusks and crustaceans.

[10][20] They are considered to be a game fish and are of minor commercial importance,[21] though there have been reports of ciguatera poisoning due to red tide associated with them.