Leuresthes tenuis
California Grunion
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Atheriniformes (Silversides)
Atherinopsidae (New World Silversides)
Leuresthes
Leuresthes tenuis (California Grunion)
Description
This species account was compiled from
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Characters
Body shape: elongated. Branchiostegal rays: 6 (Ref. 36497).
Distribution
Eastern Pacific: Monterey Bay, USA to Baja California Sur, Mexico.
Habitat Associations
Marine. pelagic-neritic. depth range 0-18 m.
Biology
Adults inhabit inshore waters, usually at or near surface along open coast and in bays (Ref. 36497). Oviparous, with planktonic primarily neustonic larvae (Ref. 36497). Eggs are deposited in the sand at night by the female parent (Ref. 58332) just below the high spring tide line (Ref. 36497). Minimum depth reported taken from Ref. 57178.
Max length: 19.0 cm TL; max age: 8 years.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (brood hiders); parental care: maternal. Demersal spawners. Spawn at night on sand beaches at high tides in the spring and summer. Eggs are buried in moist sand by the female parent (Ref. 58332) and hatch about 15 days later during the next series of high tides (Ref. 2850). Females spawn 4 to 8 times during a season (Ref. 4563).
IUCN Red List Status: N.E. (N.E.). Resilience: Medium (tmax=4; k >0.30; tm=1.5).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial.
References
Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann (1983) A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p.
Balon, E.K. (1990) Epigenesis of an epigeneticist: the development of some alternative concepts on the early ontogeny and evolution of fishes. Guelph Ichthyol. Rev. 1:1-48.
Watson, W. (1996) Atherinidae: silversides. p. 608-619. In H.G. Moser (ed.) The early stages of fishes in the California Current region. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) Atlas No. 33. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 1505 p.
Coleman, R.M. (1999) Parental care in intertidal fishes. p. 165-180. In M.H. Horn, K.l. Martin and M.A. Chotkowski (eds.) Intertidal fishes: life in two worlds. Academic Press, USA. 399 p.
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