Bigeye Mojarra, Eucinostomus havana

Bigeye Mojarra, Eucinostomus havana. Fish caught from coastal waters off the Silver Palm Park, Boca Raton, Florida, March 2019. Length: 15.2 cm (6.0 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

The Bigeye Mojarra, Eucinostomus havana, is a member of the Mojarra or Gerreidae Family, and is known in Mexico as mojarra cubana. Globally, there are eleven species in the genus Eucinostomus, and all eleven are found in Mexican waters, seven in the Atlantic and four in the Pacific Ocean.

The Bigeye Mojarra has a compressed, fusiform, oval body that has a depth that is 30% to 37% of standard length. They are silvery in color with six dark blotches along the mid-side that join six bars on the upper back; they have a broad black area at the margin of the front portion of the first dorsal fin. The head has a very concave lower profile, large eyes and a highly extensible, downward pointing mouth when extended. The anal fin has 3 spines, the second of which is short, and 8 weak rays; their caudal fin is deeply forked; their first dorsal fin has 9 spines; their second dorsal fin has 10 rays; and, their pectorals do not reach the anal fin origin. They have 7 or 8 lower gill rakers. The body is covered with large rough scales.

The Bigeye Mojarra is a schooling species that are found over sandy vegetated substrate and also over mud bottoms around mangroves and open sandy beaches at depths up to 46 m (150 feet). They do not enter brackish water estuaries. They reach a maximum of 18 cm (7.1 inches) in length. They feed on small benthic invertebrates. Reproduction is oviparous. The Bigeye 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 Bigeye Mojarra is a resident of Mexican waters has a limited distribution being found in the coastal waters surrounding the Yucatán Peninsula in both the Gulf of Mexico and in the Caribbean.

The Bigeye Mojarra is very similar to a series of other small silvery Mojarras found in Mexican waters of the Caribbean including the Mottled Mojarra, Eucinostromus lefroyi, the Silver Jenny, Eucinostomus gula, the Slender Mojarra, Eucinostomus jonesii, the Spotfin Mojarra, Eucinostomus argenteus and the Tidewater Mojarra, Eucinostomus harengulus, but of these all lack a black tipped dorsal fin. The Flagfin Mojarra, Eucinostomus melanopterus, does possess a black tipped dorsal fin however, the black coloration is more intense, extends across the majority of the dorsal fin and has a white band followed by a dark band immediately below; they also have 9 lower gill rakers.

From a conservation perspective the Bigeye Mojarra is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are small in stature and are of interest to most. In some areas they are caught with cast nets, beach seines, handlines, set nets, and bottom trawls. If marketed they are marketed fresh but are in low demand. The majority of fish are utilized to make fish meal.

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.