Selene setapinnis
Atlantic Moonfish
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Carangidae (Jacks)
Selene
Selene setapinnis (Atlantic Moonfish)
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
Very deep bodied and extremely compressed, with ventral profile more convex than dorsal, pelvic fins very short, and scales very small and embedded. Dorsal profile of head is nearly vertical and concave to above eye and strongly rounded to nape. Snout is blunt. Eye possesses poorly developed adipose eyelid. Maxilla extends to below anterior margin of eye. Jaw teeth are relatively small and arranged in narrow, irregular bands. Preopercular margin is membranous. Gill rakers on first arch are lathlike and number 7 to 10 on upper limb and 27 to 35 on lower limb. Branchiostegal rays number 7. Pectoral fin is falcate and has 17 or 18 rays. First dorsal fin has eight spines, with first four spines elongated and second equal to body depth in specimens shorter than 60 mm FL. Second dorsal fin has one spine and 21 to 24 rays, with anterior rays only slightly longer than posterior rays and not forming lobe. Anal fin consists of two free spines followed by one spine and 16 to 19 rays. Free anal spines are absent in specimens greater than 130 mm FL. Pelvic fins are very short in juveniles and rudimentary in adults. Scales are very small and cycloid, cover most of lower half of body, but are mostly absent from area anterior to pelvic fin base and junction between curved and straight sections of lateral line. Straight section of lateral line has 7 to 17 weak scutes. Caudal peduncle has two keels. Vertebrae number 24: 10 precaudal and 14 caudal.
Color is silvery, with faint dark spot on edge of operculum and on upper section of caudal peduncle. Juveniles have black spot on straight section of lateral line.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Nova Scotia to Argentina, including the northern and southern Gulf of Mexico and the Antilles.
Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Occurs to about 54 m, associated with the bottom. Juveniles to 30 mm FL are pelagic drifters and found near the surface up to 180 km offshore.
Biology
Food consists of crustaceans and small ray-finned fishes.
Maximum known size is 332 mm FL.
Sexual maturity is reached at about 130 mm FL.
Adults usually found near the bottom from inshore waters to at least 54 m depth, but may form schools near the surface (Ref. 5217). Juveniles are found on muddy bottoms brackish estuaries and in coastal marine waters (Ref. 5217). Adults feed on small fishes and crustaceans. Good food fish and marketed fresh.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-08-21. Resilience: Medium (tmax=4.5; assuming tm=2-3).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: highly commercial; aquarium: public aquariums.
References
Randall 1968a
Hoese and Moore 1977, 1998
Castro-Aguirre and Márquez-Espinoza 1981
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Cervigón 1993b
Schaldach et al. 1997
Smith 1997
Castro-Aguirre et al. 1999
Smith-Vaniz 2002c
Berry, F.H. and W.F. Smith-Vaniz (1978) Carangidae. In W. Fischer (ed.) FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. West Atlantic (Fishing Area 31). volume 1. FAO, Rome. [var. pag.].
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.
Cervigón, F. (1993) Los peces marinos de Venezuela. Volume 2. Fundación Científica Los Roques, Caracas,Venezuela. 497 p.
Uyeno, T., K. Matsuura and E. Fujii (eds.) (1983) Fishes trawled off Suriname and French Guiana. Japan Marine Fishery Resource Research Center, Tokyo, Japan. 519 p.
Claro, R. (1994) Características generales de la ictiofauna. p. 55-70. In R. Claro (ed.) Ecología de los peces marinos de Cuba. Instituto de Oceanología Academia de Ciencias de Cuba and Centro de Investigaciones de Quintana Roo.
Gines, H. and F. Cervigón (1967) Exploracion pesquera en las costas de Guyana y Surinam año 1967. Estacíon de Investigaciones Marinas de Margarita. Fundacíon La Salle de Ciencias Naturales, no. 29.
Smith, C.L. (1997) National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
Gross, M.R. and R. Shine (1981) Parental care and mode of fertilization in ectothermic vertebrates. Evolution 35(4):775-793.
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