Salema Butterfish, Peprilus snyderi

Salema Butterfish, Peprilus snyderi. Fish provided by the Commercial Fishermen of the Greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, June 2012. Length: 24 cm (9.4 inches). This species is also sold commercially by the Ranch 99 Market in San Diego with the fish originating from “Ecuador”. Identification courtesy of H.J. Walker, Jr., Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California.

The Salema Butterfish, Peprilus snyderi, is a member of the Butterfish or Stromateidae Family, and is also known as the Shortfin Butterfish and in Mexico as palometa salema. There are seven global members of the genus Peprilus, of which six are found in Mexican waters, two in the Atlantic and four in the Pacific Ocean.

The Salema Butterfish has a deep oval strongly compressed body with a depth that is 42% to 50% of standard length. They are a uniform bluish-silver color. Their head short blunt snout that is equal to the diameter of the eyes (a key to identification) and has a small oblique mouth, that ends before the eyes, with a lower jaw that projects beyond the lower jaw with small teeth on both jaws. Their eyes have a fatty ring around them. Their anal and dorsal fins have long bases with front lobes that are only slightly raised in a blunt point; their anal fin is much lower than the dorsal fin. Their anal fin has 2 spines and 40 to 44 rays; their caudal fin is deeply forked; their dorsal fin has 3 spines and 45 to 48 rays; their pectoral fins are long and pointed; and, they do not have pelvic fins. They have 23 to 26 gill rakers and 36 vertebrae. They are covered with small scales. Their lateral line is high and follows the upper body profile.

The Salema Butterfish is normally found in shallow waters over soft bottoms of coastal areas including river mouths at depths up to 144 m (470 feet). They reach a maximum  of 44 cm (17 inches) in length. The Salema Butterfish 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 Salema Butterfish is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean with the exception that they are absent from Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, northward along the central and northwest coasts of Baja.

The Salema Butterfish is very similar to the Gulf Butterfish, Perrilus burti (snout less than eye diameter), the Pacific Harvestfish, Peprilus medius (long anal and dorsal front fin lobes), and virtually identical to the Pacific Pompano, Peprilus simillimus (30 or 31 vertebrae). The latter is found in the same geographic areas, thus X-ray is required to distinguish the two fish.

From a conservation perspective the Salema Butterfish is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable widely distributed populations. They relatively small in stature and they are rare and not a significant targeted commercial or recreational fish.