Pacific Yellowfin Mojarra, Gerres simillimus

Pacific Yellowfin Mojarra, Gerres simillimus. Commercial fish courtesy of Central Fish Market, San San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, January 2015. Length: 25 cm (10 inches).

Pacific Yellowfin Mojarra, Gerres simillimus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Acapulco, Guerrero, January 2018. Length: 26 cm (10 inches). Catch and photograph courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Pacific Yellowfin Mojarra, Gerres simillimus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Mazatlán, Sinaloa, October 2021. Length: 24 cm (9.4 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Bart, The Netherlands  (worldangler.eu).

Pacific Yellowfin Mojarra, Gerres simillimus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Acapulco, Guerrero, January 2018. Length: 26 cm (10 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Josh Leisen (joshadventures.com), Gaylord, Michigan.

Pacific Yellowfin Mojarra, Gerres simillimus. Underwater photograph taken in  within Bahía  Concepción, Baja California Sur, October 2024. Photograph courtesy of Bob Hillis, Ivins, Utah.

The Pacific Yellowfin Mojarra, Gerres simillimus, is a member of the Mojarra or Gerreidae Family, and is known in Mexico as palmito blanco or palmito rayado. Historically the Yellowfin Morraja found in the Pacific Ocean was thought to be one and the same as the fish found in the Atlantic Ocean. In 2020 the fish found in the Pacific Ocean was determined to be different and is now a new species to science, this species, the Pacific Yellowfin Mojarra, Gerres simillimus. Globally, there twenty-eight species in the genus Gerres, of which two are found in Mexican waters, one in the Atlantic Ocean and this one from the Pacific Ocean.

The Pacific Yellowfin Mojarra has an oval moderately deep compressed body that have a depth that is 38% to 42% of standard length. They are silvery white in color with eight faint dark bars on their sides. Their anal and pelvic fins are yellow. Their head has a straight 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 smooth. Their anal fin has 2 spines and 7 rays and the second spine is longer than the caudal fin base; their caudal fin is deeply forked, their dorsal fin is elevated at the front and has 9 spines and 10 rays; and, their pectoral fins are long and reach past the anal fin origin. They have 12 gill rakers on the lower arch. Their head and body are covered with rough scales. Their lateral line is slightly arched.

The Pacific Yellowfin Mojarra is found in shallow coastal areas including mangrove estuaries and fresh water lagoons at depths up to 107 m (350 feet). They have a maximum of 47 cm (19 inches) in length. The Pacific Yellowfin 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 Pacific Yellowfin Mojarra have a limited distribution in Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean being found from Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, southward along the southwest coast of Baja, in the southern two-thirds of the Sea of Cortez, and along the coast of the mainland south to Guatemala.

The Pacific Yellowfin Mojarra can be confused with the Darkspot Mojarra, Eucinostomus entomelas (short second anal spine; no bars on sides), the Pacific Spotfin Mojarra, Eucinostomus dowii (short second anal spine; no bars on sides), and the Yellowfin Mojarra, Gerres cinereus (virtually identical; Atlantic Ocean only).

From a conservation perspective the Pacific Yellowfin Mojarra is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are caught by artisanal and commercial fishermen utilizing cast nets, gill nets, seines nets, trammel nets and traps. They are sold commercially in the major Mexican food stores but are not highly esteemed. They are utilized on a limited basis as a bait 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.