Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Clupeiformes (Herrings) > Clupeidae (Herrings, shads, sardines, menhadens)
Etymology: Opisthonema: Greek, opisthe = behind + Greek,nema = filament (Ref. 45335).

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; pelagic-neritic, usually 50 - ? m (Ref. 11035). Tropical; 28°N - 3°S, 112°W - 78°W (Ref. 54686)

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 30.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 55763); common length : 22.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9291)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13-21; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 12 - 23. The filamentous last dorsal fin ray distinguishes it from members of any other eastern Pacific clupeoid genus. Separated from eastern Pacific Opisthonema species by having 63 to 110 lower gill rakers in fishes over 14 cm standard length.

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Pacific: Santa Rosalita, Pacific coast of Baja, California, Mexico southward to Punta Sal and Punta Picos, Peru. (Earlier works probably combined data for Opisthonema bulleri and Opisthonema medirastre). Range is extended northwards to San Pedro, California (Ref. 35601). Rare on outer coast of Baja California Sur (Ref. 35601).

Usually occur near the surface of coastal and offshore waters, down to over bottom of continental shelf (Ref. 11035). Form dense schools. Apparently the most abundant of the eastern Pacific species of Opisthonema. Feed on phytoplankton (dinoflagellates and diatoms). Oviparous, with planktonic eggs and larvae (Ref. 35601). It is reduced to fish meal (Ref. 9291). Oil may be extracted (Ref. 9291). May be canned (Ref. 9291).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Whitehead, P.J.P., 1985. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 7. Clupeoid fishes of the world (suborder Clupeioidei). 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.

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)

Least Concern (LC)

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; bait: occasionally

FAO(fisheries: production, species profile; publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration

Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development

Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance

References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Allele frequencies
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Mass conversion

Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Estimates of some properties based on empirical models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805): PD₅₀ = 0.5312 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00817 (-0.11375 - 0.13010), b=3.06 (2.98 - 3.13), based on LWR estimates for species & family-BS (Ref. 93245).

Trophic Level (Ref. 69278): 2.9 ±0.28 se; Based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 69278): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (K=0.22-0.5).

Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low vulnerability (25 of 100) .

Price category (Ref. 80766): Medium.

Opisthonema libertate (Günther, 1867)