The common pandora was first formally described as Sparus erythrinus by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae published in 1758 with its type locality given as the Mediterranean and America.

[4] The common pandora has the specific name erythrinus which means "red", a reference to the pinkish colour of this fish.

[7] The common pandora is a protogynous hermaphroditism in which the females change sex to become males when they reach lengths between 12.8 and 20.3 cm (5.0 and 8.0 in).

[10] This sex change typically when they are 3–4 years old,[7] however, this is not always true as small males and even large females are often recorded.

[10] A study in the central Adriatic Sea found that the prey of common pandora came from seven major groups, these were decapod crustaceans, bivavlves, polychaetes, krill, bony fishes, mysids and cephalopods.

Overall the most frequent prey were the shrimps Alpheus dentipes and Processa canaliculata and the polychaete worm Aphrodite aculata.

The EU has set a minimum size limit for this species being landed of a total length of 150 mm (5.9 in).