Striped Mojarra, Eugerres plumieri
Striped Mojarra, Eugerres plumieri. Fish caught from an urban canal in Melbourne, Florida, November 2020. Length: 12.7 cm (5.0 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, San Diego, California.
Striped Mojarra, Eugerres plumieri. Commercial fish courtesy of Soriana’s Mercado, San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, September 2017. Length: 21.0 cm (8.3 inches). Noteworthy is the atypical all black dorsal fin.
Striped Mojarra, Eugerres plumieri. Commercial fish courtesy of Soriana’s Mercado, San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, July 2017. Length: 23.5 cm (9.3 inches).
Striped Mojarra, Eugerres plumieri. Fish caught from within the Tarpon Springs Marina, Cape Coral, Florida, July 2019. Length: 24 cm (9.4 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Chris Moore, Peoria, Arizona.
The Striped Mojarra, Eugerres plumieri, is a member of the Mojarra or Gerreidae Family, and is known in Mexico as mojarra rayada. 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 Striped Mojarra has a rhomboidal, deep, and compressed body with a depth that is 48% to 52% of standard length. They are silvery overall and darker dorsally with thin dark lines along their scale rows. Their dorsal fin is dark and their other fins are dusky. Their head has a gently curved upper profile and a concave lower profile. Their mouth ends under the center of the eyes and is slightly extensible, pointing downward when protruded. Their gill covers are serrated. Their anal fin has 3 spines and 8 or 9 rays with the second spine being long and thick but not reaching past the tail base; their caudal fin is forked; their dorsal fin is elevated at the front and has 9 spines and 10 rays; their pectoral fins are long and pointed reaching past the anal fin origin and have 16 or 17 rays; and, their pelvic fins has 1 strong, stout, and thick spine. They have 13 to 17 gill rakers on the lower arch. They are covered with rough scales.
The Striped Mojarra is found in shallow coastal areas and lagoons at depths up to 30 m (100 feet) and are often found in freshwater. They reach 40 cm (16 inches) in length and 1.0 kg (2.2 lbs) in weight. They consume aquatic insects, crustaceans, micro-bivalves, and detritus. Reproduction is oviparous with each female producing 14,000 and 136,000 eggs annually. The Striped 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 Striped Mojarra is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.
The Striped Mojarra can be easily confused with the Black Axillary Mojarra, Eugerres axillaris (black pectoral base; concave head profile; Pacific Ocean only) and the Maracaibo Mojarra, Eugerres awlae (second anal spine extending past the tail base).
From a conservation perspective, the Striped Mojarra is currently considered of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. Although small in stature, they are targeted by artisanal and commercial fishermen and sold commercially for bait, fish meal, and for human consumption being considered an excellent food fish. They are also bred in captivity for food.
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.