The red hind has a robust, compressed body which is deepest at the origin of the dorsal fin,[3] the standard length being 2.7 to 3.1 times the depth.

Its range extends from Bermuda and North Carolina and along the eastern coast of the United States into the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.

Crabs are the most common item on their diet, and fishes like Bluehead Wrasse, Thalassoma bifasciatum; Boga, Inermia vittata; goatfishes and small morays are included.

In Puerto Rico, the fish gather in or near familiar spawning grounds along sections of the insular shelf during a one to two week period in association with the lunar cycles of January and February.

In 1992, a tagged Red Hind traveled more than ten miles, crossing over water 600 feet deep, bypassing other aggregations, to spawn at a particular site.

[6] The red hind is one of the most valuable commercial species in the Caribbean in terms of the numbers and total weight of landings.