This name derives from the grunting or chattering noise these fish make by rubbing their pharyngeal teeth together.

Orthopristis chrysoptera has an elliptical, oval shaped, compressed body with a thin-lipped small mouth which does not extend to the eye and is not coloured red inside.

Every scale on its body has a blue center and a bronze spot on the margin, creating diagonal orange-brown stripes running up an along the flanks and back.

[2] Orthopristis chrysoptera is found in the western Atlantic Ocean along the east coast of the United States and Mexico.

Its range extends from Massachusetts to Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico, including the Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba.

Spawning takes place at dusk, and may occur offshore in open waters or in more sheltered situations inshore.

Pigfish are a migratory species and thus move offshore during the winter to reside in warmer, deeper water.

When they return inshore in the Springtime they are often found in poor condition, suggesting that the offshore food supply is of low quality.

[4] It is often caught to be used as bait in angling and commercial fisheries for other, larger fish such as the spotted sea trout (Cynoscion nebulosus).