Species ( Archosargus probatocephalus ) of popular edible sport fish in the porgy family, common along southern North American Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts.
The species has inexplicably become very rare from New England to the Chesapeake Bay area, where it was once prevalent. Sheepsheads have a high forehead and a compressed silver body with wide, dark, vertical bands, most distinct in juveniles. The large flat teeth crush and grind crustaceans and hard-shelled mollusks. Adults are typically 2–2.5 ft (60–75 cm) long and weigh about 20 lbs (9 kg).