Lagodon is a monospecific genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sparidae, which includes the seabreams and porgies.

Lagodon was first proposed as a genus in 1855 by the American zoologist John Edwards Holbrook with Sparus rhomboides as its only species.

The specific name rhomboides means "in the form of a rhombus", presumed to be a reference to the shape of the scales in the illustration of two seabreams called Perca marina rhomboidalis fasciata drawn by Mark Catesby published in 1754.

[2] The adult pinfish prefers waters between 30 and 50 feet deep, while the juvenile is more common where there is some cover, such as seagrass beds, rocky bottoms, jetties, pilings, and mangroves.

[16] Lagodon undergoes ontogenetic changes in the morphology of their dentition and gut tracts which affect diet throughout their life history.

Juvenile pinfish are carnivorous and primarily eat shrimp, fish eggs, insect larvae, polychaete worms, and amphipods.

It is often used as live bait by anglers targeting tarpon, red drum, spotted sea trout, and flounder.

Because it is generally considered a nuisance bait-stealer,[16] anglers opt to catch Lagodon in traps [17] in order to improve the efficiency and gather more live bait quickly.

The famous naturalist, Edward O. Wilson, lost the vision in his right eye at the age of seven, when he caught a pinfish and it flew up and struck him in the face.