Diapterus peruvianus
Peruvian Mojarra
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Gerreidae (Mojarras)
Diapterus
Diapterus peruvianus (Peruvian Mojarra)
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. Body diamond-shaped, compressed, and deep (depth contained 1.9 to 2.0 times in standard length); predorsal profile very compressed; mouth strongly protractile; preopercular border serrate; dorsal fin not notched to its base; second anal spine long and stout; body silver or gold with blue iridescent highlights; pelvic and anal fins yellow with dark rays (Ref. 55763).
Distribution
Eastern Pacific: Mazatlan, Mexico to Callao, Peru.
Habitat Associations
Marine. demersal. depth range 1-30 m.
Biology
Common in coastal waters. Juveniles inhabit lagoons of mangrove areas and tidal streams; adults are found over soft bottoms of deeper waters. May enter brackish waters (Ref. 37955). Feeds on benthic invertebrates and fishes. Its flesh is considered of good quality (Ref. 9303). Depth range assumed (RF).
Max length: 35.0 cm TL; common length: 15.0 cm TL; max weight: 472 g.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2007-05-25. Resilience: High (K=4.04;).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial.
References
Chirichigno F., N. (1980) Clave para identificar los peces marinos del Peru. Inf. Inst. Mar. Perú (44):.
Bussing, W.A. (1995) Gerreidae. Mojarras. p. 1114-1128. In W. Fischer, F. Krupp, W. Schneider, C. Sommer, K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) Guia FAO para Identification de Especies para lo Fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. 3 Vols. FAO, Rome.
López-Peralta, R.H. and C.A.T. Arcila (2002) Diet composition of fish species form the southern continental shelf of Colombia. Naga, WorldFish Center Q. 25(3-4):23-29.
Jiménez Prado, P. and P. Béarez (2004) Peces Marinos del Ecuador continental. Tomo 2: Guía de Especies / Marine fishes of continental Ecuador. Volume 2: Species Guide. SIMBIOE/NAZCA/IFEA.
González-Acosta, A.F., P. Béarez, N. Álvarez-Pliego, J. De La Cruz-Agüero and J.L. Castro-Aguirre (2007) On the taxonomic status of Diapterus peruvianus (Cuvier, 1830) and reinstatement of Diapterus brevirostris (Sauvage, 1879) (Teleostei: Gerreidae). Cybium 31(3):369-377. DOI: 10.26028/cybium/2007-313-006
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.
Coello, D., M. Herrera and R. Zambrano (2020) Length-weight relationship of 74 fish species caught in the continental coast of Ecuador. J. Appl. Ichthyol. 37:129-134. DOI: 10.1111/jai.14113
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