Shortnose Mojarra, Diapterus brevirostris
Shortnose Mojarra, Diapterus brevirostris, Juvenile. Fish caught with a cast net off the pier at Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Baja California Sur, November 2023. Length: 7.4 cm (3.0 inches). Catch courtesy of Chris Wheaton, Fullerton, California.
Shortnose Mojarra, Diapterus brevirostris, Juvenile. Fish caught with a cast net off the pier at Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Baja California Sur, December 2021. Length: 7.5 cm (3.0 inches). Catch courtesy of Ruben Duran, Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Baja California Sur. Photograph courtesy of Brad Murakami, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
Shortnose Mojarra, Diapterus brevirostris, Juvenile. Fish caught with a cast net off the pier by Jimmy Camacho in Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Baja California Sur, April 2016. Length: 16 cm (6.3 inches).
Shortnose Mojarra, Diapterus brevirostris, Juvenile. Fish caught from within the Nautica Marina, Mazatlán, Sinaloa, October 2016. Length: 17 cm (6.7 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario Canada.
Shortnose Mojarra, Diapterus brevirostris, Juvenile. Fish caught from coastal waters off Puerto Adolfo Lopez Materos, Baja California Sur, October 2017. Length: 17 cm (6.7 inches).
Shortnose Mojarra, Diapterus brevirostris. Fish caught from coastal waters off Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, February 2023. Length: 18 cm (7.1 inches). Catch and photograph courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Peoria, Illinois.
Shortnose Mojarra, Diapterus brevirostris. Fish caught from coastal waters off Mazatlán, Sinaloa, March 2016. Length: 18 cm (7.1 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).
Shortnose Mojarra, Diapterus brevirostris. Fish caught by commercial fishermen with a cast net within Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, October 2017. Length: 23.5 cm (9.3 inches).
The Shortnose Mojarra, Diapterus brevirostris, is a member of the Mojarra or Gerreidae Family, and is known in Mexico as mojarra aletas amarillas. Globally, there are four species in the genus Diapterus, and all four are found in Mexican waters, two in the Atlantic and two in the Pacific Ocean.
The Shortnose Mojarra has a rhomboidal-shaped compressed body that has a depth that is 48% to 52% of standard length. Their body is silvery white with yellow anal and pelvic fins but with no other distinguishing marks. Their head has a concave upper profile and a concave lower profile. Their mouth is highly extensible, pointing downward when protruded, and their snout is pointed. The lower border of their gill covers is slightly serrated. Their anal fin has long lobes with 3 spines and 8 rays with the second spine being long and thick; their caudal fin has long pointed lobes and is deeply forked; their dorsal fin is elevated at the front and has long lobes and 9 spines and 10 rays with a slight notch between the spiny and soft dorsal rays; and, their pectoral fins are long and reach past the anal fin origin. Their lateral line is slightly arched and their head and body are covered with rough scales.
The Shortnose Mojarra resides in shallow coastal areas including mangrove estuaries and fresh water lagoons at depths up to 104 m (340 feet). They reach a maximum of 38 cm (15 inches) in length. The Shortnose 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 Shortnose Mojarra is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean but has a limited distribution being found from Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, southward along the southwest coast of Baja, in the southern half of the Sea of Cortez, and along the coast of the mainland to Guatemala.
The Shortnose Mojarra can be confused with the Black Axillary Mojarra, Eugerres axillaris (black anal and pelvic fins) and the Streaked Mojarra, Eugerres lineatus (pectoral fin not reaching anal origin).
From a conservation perspective the Shortnose Mojarra has not been formally evaluated. They are small in stature but sold commercially in the major Mexican food stores and are considered an excellent food fish.
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.