Yellowfin Mojarra, Gerres cinereus
Yellowfin Mojarra, Gerres cinereus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Sugarloaf Key, Florida, August 2014. Length: 12 cm (4.7 inches). Catch and photograph courtesy of Dean Kimberly, Atlanta, Georgia.
Yellowfin Mojarra, Gerres cinereus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Key Largo, Florida, July 2021. Length: 15 cm (5.9 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Chris Moore, Peoria, Arizona.
Yellowfin Mojarra, Gerres cinereus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Belize, July 2015. Length: 17 cm (6.7 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Josh Leisen (joshadventures.com), Gaylord, Michigan.
Yellowfin Mojarra, Gerres cinereus. Underwater photograph taken with coastal waters off Cozumel Island, Quintana Roo, March 2021. Photograph and identification courtesy of Marina Sutormina, Stockholm, Sweden.
The Yellowfin Mojarra, Gerres cinereus, is a member of the Mojarra or Gerreidae Family, and is known in Mexico as mojarra trompetera and tropuda. 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, the Pacific Yellowfin Mojarra, Gerres simillimus. Globally, there twenty-eight species in the genus Gerres, of which two are found in Mexican waters, this one from the Atlantic Ocean and one from the Pacific Ocean.
The 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 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 47.5 cm (19 inches) in length. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 0.99 kg (2 lbs 3 oz) with the fish caught in coastal waters off Jupiter, Florida in May 2013. The 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 Yellowfin Mojarra is a resident of Mexican waters of the Atlantic Oceans. In the Atlantic they are found in all coastal waters of both the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.
The 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 Pacific Yellowfin Mojarra, Gerres simillimus (virtually identical, Pacific Ocean only).
From a conservation perspective the 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.