'They pose no threat to humans unless harassed,' Catania added. 'I would not hesitate to swim in waters inhabited by these fish,' David Catania, the collections manager for ichthyology at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, told in 2021 after a TikTok video describing a sheepshead as a 'demon fish' went viral. Even when sheepshead fish have a full set of gnashers they are typically not dangerous to humans, but it's not a good idea to provoke them. and in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the IUCN. Sheepshead fish are safe for human consumption and are commercially and recreationally fished along the southeastern coast of the U.S. Sheepshead fish usually reach maturity at 2 years old and can live for at least 20 years. Once fertilized, the eggs hatch after just 28 hours.

Scientists don't know much about sheepshead fish spawning behavior, but females may produce between 1,100 eggs and 250,000 eggs, according to FMNH. To reproduce, a female fish releases her eggs, which a male then fertilizes with sperm. Related: Under the sea: 50 breathtaking images from our oceans How do sheepshead fish breed? Sheepshead fish swim from the surface down to a depth of 49 feet (15 meters), according to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. In late winter and early spring, sheepshead fish head offshore to spawn, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History (FMNH). While sheepshead fish usually live in salt water and slightly salty brackish water, they are sometimes found in freshwater habitats in winter, when they seek out warmer waters where springs and rivers empty into the ocean.

Genus and species: Archosargus probatocephalus

Fish with flat head