Shortnose Stardrum, Stellifer chrysoleuca

Shortnose Stardrum, Stellifer chrysoleuca. Fish caught from coastal waters off Puerto Chomes, Costa Rica, March 2021. Length: 26 cm (10 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).

The Shortnose Stardrum, Stellifer chrysoleuca, is a member of the Croaker or Sciaenidae Family, that is known in Mexico as corvinilla chata. Globally, there are twenty-four species in the genus Stellifer, of which seven are found in Mexican waters, two in the Atlantic and five in the Pacific Ocean.

The Shortnose Stardrum has and oblong robust body that is moderately compressed. They are silvery dark gray with dusky scale margins and faint dusky black stripes along the sides. Their fins are dusky blackish except the pectoral fins are slightly yellow and the pelvic fins are white. Their head is large, low and broad with a blunt snout that projects slightly beyond the upper jaw. Their mouth is inferior and slightly oblique with villiform teeth set in bands with those in the outer row of the upper jaw being enlarged. The chin has 6 pores and they do not have barbels. Their gill covers have 9 to 14 spiny serrations and a strong spine at an angle below that is enlarged and pointed downward. They have 21 to 26 long slender gill rakers. Their anal fin has 2 spines, the second of which is strong, and 8 or 9 rays, and a short base; their caudal fin has a blunt central point or is rounded; their first dorsal fin has 9 or 10 spines; and, their second dorsal fin 1 spine and 20 to 23 rays that is preceded by a deep notch. They are covered with smooth scales.

The Shortnose Stardrum is a demersal species that is found over muddy and sandy bottoms in coastal areas at depths up to 30 m (100 feet). They reach a maximum of 30 cm (12 inches) in length. They feed on planktonic crustaceans, benthic invertebrates and marine worms. The Shortnose Stardrum 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 Shortnose Stardrum can be easily confused with the Dusky Croaker, Ophioscion scierus (7 anal fin rays), the Vacuoqua Croaker, Corvula macrops (dark spot at pectoral axis, black pelvic fins), and the Wormlined Croaker, Ophioscion vermicularis (black pelvic fins; second dorsal fin with 26 to 28 rays).

The Shortnose Stardrum is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific but has a limited distribution being found from along the West Coast of the mainland from Mazatlán south to Guatemala.

From a conservation perspective the Shortnose Stardrum is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. Although small in stature the Shortnose Stardrum is targeted by artisanal fishermen utilizing beach seines. They are also a frequent by-catch of the trawl fishery. They are sold in local markets and considered to be an excellent human food fish.