Vacuoqua Croaker, Corvula macrops
Vacuoqua Croaker, Corvula macrops. Fish caught off the rock jetty in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, March 2019. Length: 19 cm (7.5 inches). Catch and photograph courtesy of Nick Morenc, Mission Viejo, California.
Vacuoqua Croaker, Corvula macrops. Fish caught out from coastal waters off Mazatlán, Sinaloa, October 2017. Length: 20 cm (7.9 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Kenneth Tse, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Vacuoqua Croaker, Corvula macrops. Fish caught out from coastal waters off Mazatlán, Sinaloa, October 2017. Length: 20 cm (7.9 inches). Catch and photograph courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Vacuoqua Croaker, Corvula macrops. Fish caught off the beach at Km 21, Cabo Real, Baja California Sur, June 2007. Length: 20 cm (7.9 inches). Fish identification courtesy of Dr. Ross Robertson, The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama.
Vacuoqua Croaker, Corvula macrops. Fish caught off the beach at Km 21, Cabo Real, Baja California Sur, May 2020. Length: 20.5 cm (8.1 inches). Note: the body depth of this fish is extraordinally large being 41% of standard length.
The Vacuoqua Croaker, Corvula macrops, is a member of the Croaker or Sciaenidae Family, that is also known as the Bigeye Croaker and and in Mexico as corvineta vacuoqua. Globally, there are three species in the genus Corvula, and all three are found in Mexican waters, two in the Atlantic and this species from the Pacific Ocean.
The Vacuoqua Croaker has a short oblong compressed body. Their upper body has a silvery dark gray coloration with faint stripes or rows of dots along the scale rows above the lateral line. They have a dark pectoral fin axis, black anal and pelvic fins, and a dark lining behind the front teeth of their lower jaw. Their head is short with a blunt snout, moderately-sized eyes, and a moderately-sized recessed oblique mouth. The length of their snout is less than the eye diameter. Their mouth has small conical teeth arranged in bands. Their gill cover is smooth. They do not have a chin barbell. They have five pores on the chin. Their anal fin has 2 spines, the second Is robust and three-fourths of the length of the first anal ray, and 9 to 11 rays; their caudal fin has a straight or slightly rounded margin; their first dorsal fin has 10 or 11 spines; their second dorsal fin has 1 or 2 spines and 24 to 27 rays; and, their pectoral fins are short and do not reach the tip of the pelvic fins. They have 22 to 26 gill rakers. Their body is covered with rough scales.
The Vacuoqua Croaker is found in rocky coastal areas near the bottom at depths up to 15 m (50 feet). They reach a maximum of 25 cm (10 inches) in length. The Vacuoqua Croaker 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 Vacuoqua Croaker is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean but has a limited distribution being found at the extreme southern tip of Baja, Baja California Sur, and along the coast of the mainland south to Guatemala.
The Vacuoqua Croaker can be confused with the Bigeye Croaker, Umbrina bussingi (21 to 23 dorsal fin rays; long pectoral fins; black inside gill cover), the Black Croaker, Cheilotrema saturnum (oblique head profile; wide black band on gill cover upper half), the Shortnose Stardrum, Stellifer chrysoleuca (overhanging snout; six chin pores; 8 or 9 anal fin rays) and the Yelloweye Croaker, Odontoscion xanthops (eye ~ snout length).
From a conservation perspective the Vacuoqua Croaker has not been formally evaluated and is currently considered to be Data Deficient. They are small in stature, rare and of limited interest to most with the exception that when caught they are retained by subsistence fishermen.