Steel Pompano, Trachinotus stilbe

Steel Pompano, Trachinotus stilbe. Fish caught from coastal waters off Puerto Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, February 2007. Length: 30 cm (12 inches).

The Steel Pompano, Trachinotus stilbe, is a member of the Jack or Carangidae Family, and is known in Mexico as pámpano acerado. There are twenty global members of the genus Trachinotus, of which seven are found in Mexican waters, three in the Atlantic and four in the Pacific Ocean.

The Steel Pompano has an oval-shaped strongly compressed bodies with a depth that is 41% to 45% of standard length. They are overall dark silver in color and lighter on their sides and belly. They have a white bar on the rear of their head that fades quickly upon collection. Their caudal fin has dark margins. Their head has a rounded and extendable snout. The anal fin has 2 standalone spines followed by 1 spine and 24 or 25 rays; their caudal fin has a slender base and is deep “V” shape; their first dorsal fin has 6 short stout spines; their second dorsal fin has 1 spine and 25 to 26 rays; their pectoral fins are short; and, their pelvic fins are minute. Their anal and dorsal fins have very low and long pointed lobes of equal size and length. They have 13 to 18 gill rakers on the top arch and 20 to 32 gill rakers on the lower arch. Their body is covered with oval scales. Their lateral line is straight and they lack finlets or scutes.

The Steel Pompano is a coastal pelagic schooling species found demersal inshore over sandy bottoms and around rocky offshore islets at depths up to 23 m (75 feet). They reach a maximum of 50 cm (20 inches) in length. The Steel Pompano  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 Steel Pompano are virtually unknown in Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean with only one documented fish from the Revillagigedo Islands; the fish photographed above documents a significant range extension and the presence of the species in the Sea of Cortez.

The Steel Pompano can be confused with the Paloma Pompano, Trachinotus paitensis (no white bar at rear of head; long pelvic fins) and the Whitemouth Jack, Uraspis helvola (first dorsal fin shaped as small triangle; no white bar at rear of head; white inside of mouth; modest-sized anal and dorsal fin lobes).

From a conservation perspective the Steel Pompano is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations.  They are exceedingly rare and seldom seen by humans.