Mexican Snook, Centropomus poeyi

Mexican Snook, Centropomus poeyi. Commercial fish courtesy of Soriana’s Mercado, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, October 2009. Length: 33 cm (13 inches). Identification courtesy of H.J. Walker, Jr., Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California.

The Mexican Snook, Centropomus poeyi, is a member of the Snook or Centropomidae Family, that is also known as the Large-scale Fat Snook and in Mexico as robalo prieto or simply robalo. Globally, there are twelve species in the genus Centropomus, and all twelve are found in Mexican waters, six in the Atlantic and six in the Pacific Ocean.

The Mexican Snook is a fairly large fish and one of two large snooks found in the Atlantic. They have oblong elongated compressed bodies. They are silvery fish with a prominent dark lateral line. Their anal and pelvic fins are yellow and their caudal, dorsal, and pectoral fins are transparent with black tinges. They have a concave upper head profile with a pointed shovel-shaped snout and large eyes. Their mouth is large, terminal, and has a protruding lower jaw. Their anal fin has 3 spines and 5 to 7 rays with a thick second spine; their caudal fin is forked; their first dorsal fin has 8 spines, the third being longer than the fourth; their second dorsal fin has 1 spine and 8 to 10 rays; their pectoral fins have 14 to 17 rays and are short; and, their pelvic fins are set behind the pectoral fins and have 1 spine and 5 rays. They have 14 to 17 gill rakers of which 9 to 12 are found on the lower arch. They are covered with relatively small rough scales.

The Mexican Snook is found in bays, estuaries, the lower parts of freshwater streams, and where dry river beds meet the ocean (presumably due to subterranean water flow) at depths up to 18 m (60 feet). They reach a maximum of 96 cm (3 feet 0 inches) in length and 10.7 kg (24 lbs) in weight. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 10.69 kg (23 lbs 9 oz) with the fish caught in coastal waters off Campeche,  Campeche in April 2009. The Mexican Snook 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 Mexican Snook is a resident of Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean and is found in both the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean along the coast of the mainland from Tamaulipas to Belize.

The Mexican Snook is easily confused with the Common Snook, Centropomus undecimalis (13 to 15 gill rakers).

From a conservation perspective the Mexican Snook is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are heavily targeted by commercial fishermen, utilizing gill nets and hook and line primarily in in the estuaries and along the beaches of the State of Veracruz.  They are also pursued by recreational anglers.