Brevoortia smithi
Yellowfin Menhaden
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Clupeiformes (Herrings, Anchovies and Sardines)
Clupeidae (Herrings)
Brevoortia
Brevoortia smithi (Yellowfin Menhaden)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Body compressed and deep-bodied; large terminal mouth; deeply forked tail; body depth 36-43% SL; head length 29-33% SL; symphysis of upper jaw notched; lower jaw included in upper jaw when mouth closed; upper margin of lower jaw nearly straight; maxilla extends from below middle of eye to posterior margin of pupil; suborbital bone deeper than long; jaws of adults lack teeth; gill rakers long, increasing in number with age, 121-149 in adults; pectoral fin extends to within 3-5 vertical scale rows of pelvic fin base; dorsal fin originates about equidistant between tip of snout and base of caudal fin, with 18-20 rays; pelvic fin has 7 rays; anal fin has 22-23 rays; scales adherent, irregular size, in 54-80 transverse rows; paired scales along dorsal midline anterior to dorsal fin enlarged and fringed, 39-45; belly has 30-32 scutes with ascending arms
Bluish gray dorsally and silvery laterally and ventrally; single large dark spot posterior to upper margin of operculum; fins golden
Distribution
Western North Atlantic from Beaufort, North Carolina, to St. Lucie Estuary, Florida, and from Placida, Florida, to Chandeleur Sound, Louisiana, in the Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Coastal waters, including brackish bays and estuaries
Biology
Plankton obtained by filtering water through the fine sieve formed by the gill rakers
Maximum known size is 330 mm TL
Spawning takes place from November through February or March along the east coast of the United States
A schooling species (but perhaps not in the northern part of its range) occurring inshore and in bays and estuaries. Feeds by filtering phytoplankton. Breeds in winter, probably November through to February or March. Eggs and larvae are planktonic (Ref. 188). Parasitic copepod found in the stomach (Ref. 37032).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-08-23. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial.
References
Christmas and Gunter 1960
Hildebrand 1963d
Dahlberg 1970
Hoese and Moore 1977
Whitehead 1985
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Boschung 1992
Whitehead, P.J.P. (1985) FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 7. Clupeoid fishes of the world (suborder Clupeoidei). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the herrings, sardines, pilchards, sprats, shads, anchovies and wolf-herrings. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(7/1):1-303. Rome: FAO.
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
Bigelow, H.B., M.G. Bradbury, J.R. Dymond, J.R. Greeley, S.F. Hildebrand, G.W. Mead, R.R. Miller, L.R. Rivas, W.L. Schroeder, R.D. Suttkus and V.D. Vladykov (1963) Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Part three. New Haven, Sears Found. Mar. Res., Yale Univ.
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