Streaked Mojarra, Eugerres lineatus
Streaked Mojarra, Eugerres lineatus. Commercial fish courtesy of the Soriana’s Mercado, San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, April 2019. Length: 19 cm (7.5 inches).
Streaked Mojarra, Eugerres lineatus. Fish caught with a cast net in coastal waters within Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, May 2019. Length: 27 cm (10.6 inches).
The Streaked Mojarra, Eugerres lineatus, is a member of the Mojarra or Gerreidae Family, and is known in Mexico as mojarra china and mojarra canalera. Globally, there are seven species in the genus Eugerres, of which six are found in Mexican waters, three in the Atlantic and three in the Pacific Ocean.
The Streaked Mojarra has a wide rhomboidal compressed body with a depth that is 48% to 52% of standard length. They have a silvery coloration that is darker on their upper back with thin dark lines that follow the scale rows over the upper half of their body. All their fins are dark and there is a dark blotch at the base of their pectoral fins. Their upper head profile is steep with a strongly pointed snout and a highly extensible mouth. Their anal fin has 3 spines, with the second anal spine is long and thick and equal in length to the second dorsal spine, and 8 rays; their caudal fin is deeply forked; their dorsal fin is elevated at the front with 9 spines and 10 rays; and, their pectoral fins are approximately the length of the head reaching the pelvic tips and falling well short of the anal fin origin. They have serrated gill covers and 11 or 12 gill rakers on the lower arch. Their head and body are covered with rough scales. Their lateral line is strongly arched.
The Streaked Mojarra is found in shallow coastal areas including mangrove estuaries and fresh water lagoons at depths up to 30 m (100 feet). They have a maximum length of 26 cm (10 inches) in length. The Streaked Mojarra is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Streaked Mojarra is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean with the exception that they are absent from Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, northward along the central and northwest coasts of Baja and from the northern third of the Sea of Cortez.
The Streaked Mojarra can be confused with the Black Axillary Mojarra, Eugerres axillaris (pectoral fins reach anal fin origin) and the Shortnose Mojarra, Diapterus brevirostris (pectoral fins reach anal fin origin).
From a conservation perspective the Streaked Mojarra is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are fished commercially on a limited basis and sold in local fish markets in the greater Los Cabos area at certain times of the year.
NOTE. There are eighteen members of the Mojarra or Gerreidae Family currently Included in this website, ten are from Mexican waters of the Pacific and eight from the Atlantic. They are all very similar in appearance and difficult to identify. As an aide to this challenge I have assembled a Mojarra Body Depth Chart that presents these seventeen mojarras from thin bodied to deep bodied which is useful in identification work. In addition, I have also assembled a Mojarra Maximum Length Chart which I have also helpful in the identification work for these eighteen mojarras. Both charts can be found at the end of the Mojarra Family Page.