Festive Drum, Pareques fuscovittatus

Festive Drum, Pareques fuscovittatus. Underwater photograph taken in Zihuantanejo Bay, Guerrero, March 2018. Photograph and identification courtesy of Maude Jette, Dive Zihuantanejo,  www.Divezihuatanejo.com.

Festive Drum, Pareques fuscovittatus. Underwater photograph taken in coastal waters off Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, September 2021. Photograph courtesy of Kevin Erwin, Seattle, Washington.

The Festive Drum, Pareques fuscovittatus, is a member of the Croaker or Sciaenidae Family, that is also known as the Fusco Drum and in Mexico as payasito lindo. Globally, there are seven species in the genus Pareques, of which five are found Mexican waters, three in the Atlantic and two in the Pacific Ocean.

The Festive Drum has an oblong and deeply compressed body. They have a silvery dark gray to black coloration with six or seven thin dark horizontal stripes that extend over the entire length of their body and into their head. Their first dorsal fin is black with a yellow rear edge and their anal, caudal, and second dorsal fins are black with a white margin. Their anal fin has 2 spines and 6 or 7 rays with the second spine being slightly shorter than the first ray and a short base; their caudal fin is rounded; their first dorsal fin has 11 spines and is slightly higher than the second; their second dorsal fin has 1 spine and 37 to 42 rays and a long base; and, their pectoral fins are short. They have 16 to 20 short gill rakers. They are covered with rough scales.

The Festive Drum is found in rocky habitats at depths between 64 m (210 feet) and 100 m (330 feet) with the fish photographed below found at a depth of 3 m (10 feet) in shallow coastal waters establishing a new upper depth limit for this species. They reach a maximum of 20.0 cm (7.9 inches) in length. The Festive Drum 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 Festive Drum is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean but has a very limited distribution being found only from Tres Marias Island, Nayarit, to Tangola, Oaxaca along the west coast of the mainland.

The Festive Drum is very similar in markings and shape to the Rock Croaker, Pareques viola (found in shallow waters; anal fin 7 or 8 rays, dorsal fin 42-45 rays, and 19-23 short gill rakers).

From a conservation perspective the Festive Drum is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are a rare species with a limited global distribution and they are seldom seen by humans due to their residence primarily in deeper waters. They are also too small to be of interest to most.