Fish

Piggy

Pomadasys olivaceus

A small silvery grunter that shoals over inshore reef and sand, known on these Eastern Cape spots as the gorrie.

Also known as gorrie, olive grunter, pigfish

Piggy
Photo: coffeebaywessa · CC BY-NC 4.0
Typical size
Commonly 15-25 cm
Habitat
Shoaling over inshore reef and sand
Depth
Shallows to ~50 m

The piggy, or gorrie, is a small silver grunter that gathers in busy shoals over reef edges and sandy patches. It grunts audibly when handled, like its larger grunter relatives, and rarely grows big enough to target with a spear.

On the spot lists it shows up as clouds of 'gorries' drifting over the reef, a familiar background fish and a favourite of shore anglers after bait and pan fish.