Achirus achirus
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Pleuronectfiormes (Flatfishes)
Achiridae (American Soles)
Achirus
Achirus achirus
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: short and / or deep.
Distribution
Western Central Atlantic: from the Gulf of Paria to the mouth of the Amazon river.
Habitat Associations
Freshwater, brackish, marine. demersal. depth range 1-20 m. Found in: estuaries.
Biology
Adults occur in the littoral zone, down to 20 m depth, and on all sandy-muddy bottoms of estuaries, rivers and coastal streams where it penetrates far enough sometimes. They hide completely in the sediment, leaving out its eyes, in order to look out for predators and prey. Feed on small crustaceans and fish. Reproduction is like to occur between July and September (Ref. 35237). Maximum length reported to reach 37 cm TL (Ref. 5217).
Max length: 37.0 cm TL; common length: 30.0 cm TL; max weight: 1000 g.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-08-24. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: public aquariums.
References
Cervigón, F., R. Cipriani, W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, M. Hendrickx, A.J. Lemus, R. Márquez, J.M. Poutiers, G. Robaina and B. Rodriguez (1992) Fichas FAO de identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca. Guía de campo de las especies comerciales marinas y de aquas salobres de la costa septentrional de Sur América. FAO, Rome. 513 p. Preparado con el financiamento de la Comisión de Comunidades Europeas y de NORAD.
Keith, P., P.-Y. Le Bail and P. Planquette (2000) Atlas des poissons d'eau douce de Guyane. Tome 2, Fascicule I: Batrachoidiformes, Mugiliformes, Beloniformes, Cyprinodontiformes, Synbranchiformes, Perciformes, Pleuronectiformes, Tetraodontiformes. Collection Patrimoines Naturels 43(I): 286p. Paris: Publications scientifiques du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle.
Munroe, T.A. (2003) Achiridae. American soles. p. 1925-1933. In K.E. Carpenter (ed.) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Vol. 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and marine mammals.
Patzner, R.A. (2008) Reproductive strategies of fish. pp. 311-350. In Rocha, M.J., A. Arukwe and B.G. Kapoor (eds). Fish reproduction: cytology, biology and ecology. Science Publisher, Inc. Oxford. 631 p.
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