A red porgy is very similar in appearance with common dentex. Upper part of its body is ruby red, it's purplish-silver on the sides while its belly is white. Some specimens have longitudinal stripes of unstable colour, while their fin ends are edged in blue. Eyes of a red porgy are connected by a blue bypass, ant there is a dark red line below an eye.

It has spindly body, flattened on the sides, but wide in the middle. The tail flipper is slightly indented in the middle and the upper is a bit bigger.  A red porgy grows up to 75 cm length and 9.5 kg weight, but the average weight is about half a kilogram. In east Atlantic a red porgy lives from Gibraltar to Madeira and the Canari islands, including north Mediteranian sea and the British Isles.

In west Atlantic it can be found around New York, throughout the whole USA and northern Mexico Bay to Argentina, including the Carribean shores.

Red porgy in the Adriatic sea

It is prevalent throughout the Adriatic region, but it is most common in the outer shores of Dalmatian islands, and it is extremely rare in west Istria.