Selene peruviana
Pacific Moonfish
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Carangidae (Jacks)
Selene
Selene peruviana (Pacific Moonfish)
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.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting.
When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page.
Learn more about our species accounts.
Characters
Body shape: short and / or deep. Body very short, deep, and compressed; lower branch of first gill arch with 30 to 35 gill rakers; dorsal fin with 8 spines followed by another spine and 21 to 24 soft rays (VIII1, 21-24); anterior lobe of second dorsal and anal fins not elongated in adults; anterior dorsal spines prolonged in juveniles; body scaleless; lateral line scutes very weak and poorly differentiated; body silvery to gold with metallic blue highlights; juveniles silvery, with a dark oval stain on the straight part of the lateral line (ref. 55763).
Distribution
Eastern Pacific: Redondo Beach in southern California, USA to Peru; rare north of Baja California, Mexico.
Habitat Associations
Marine. benthopelagic. depth range 0-50 m. Found in: estuaries, coral reefs.
Biology
Adults are found in coastal waters up to at least 50 m depth (Ref. 9283). They generally form schools near the bottom (Ref. 9283). Juveniles are encountered near the surface (Ref. 9283). They feed on small fishes and crustaceans (Ref. 9283). Marketed fresh and salted or dried (Ref. 9283).
Max length: 40.0 cm TL; common length: 24.0 cm FL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2008-04-30. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
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.
Smith-Vaniz, W.F. (1995) Carangidae. Jureles, pámpanos, cojinúas, zapateros, cocineros, casabes, macarelas, chicharros, jorobados, medregales, pez pilota. p. 940-986. 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.
Grove, J.S. and R.J. Lavenberg (1997) The fishes of the Galápagos Islands. Stanford University Press, Stanford, 863 p.
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.
Gross, M.R. and R. Shine (1981) Parental care and mode of fertilization in ectothermic vertebrates. Evolution 35(4):775-793.
Comments On Selene peruviana