Oligoplites saurus, Leatherjacket : fisheries, gamefish, bait

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Oligoplites saurus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

Leatherjacket
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Oligoplites saurus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Carangiformes (Jacks) > Carangidae (Jacks and pompanos) > Scomberoidinae
Etymology: Oligoplites: Greek, oligos = small + Greek, hoplites = armed (Ref. 45335).
More on authors: Bloch & Schneider.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 50 m (Ref. 96339). Subtropical; 43°N - 35°S, 116°W - 31°W

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Atlantic: Maine, USA and northern Gulf of Mexico to Uruguay; throughout most of the West Indies (Ref. 3277). Absent from the Bahamas (Ref. 26938). Eastern Pacific: Baja California, Mexico to Ecuador (Ref. 9283). Two subspecies exists (Ref. 3277): Oligoplites saurus saurus (western Atlantic population) and Oligoplites saurus inornatus (eastern Pacific population).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 35.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5217); common length : 27.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5217); max. published weight: 287.00 g (Ref. 3277)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 5 - 6; Dorsal soft rays (total): 19-21; Anal spines: 2-3; Anal soft rays: 18 - 21. Body elongate and strongly compressed (depth from 3.5 to 4.4 times in standard length); posterior end of upper jaw reaching posterior rim of eye; upper jaw teeth small and villiform; lower branch of first gill arch with 14 to 18 gill rakers; scales small but visible, needle-shaped, embedded in the skin; back blue green; flanks and belly silvery to white, sometimes with yellow or golden highlights; pectoral and caudal fins yellowish (Ref. 55763); Dorsal fin has 5 nearly separate spines.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults are found inshore, usually along sandy beaches, in bays and inlets. They enter estuaries and fresh water, preferring turbid water. They occur in schools, usually large and fast moving, often leaping out of the water. Juveniles may float at the surface with tail bent and head down. Adults feed on fishes and crustaceans. The dorsal and anal spines are connected to venomous glands that can inflict painful wounds (Ref. 9283). Venom glands were not visible however, and cannot be confirmed in the specimen according to Smith and Wheeler, 2006 (Ref. 57406). Current information for this species as being dangerous need verification. Juveniles have incisor-like outer teeth and serve as cleaners for other fish; as fish grow, their teeth become conical and their diet changes (Ref. 26938). Marketed fresh and salted or dried but the flesh is not highly esteemed (Ref. 9283).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Smith-Vaniz, William F. | Collaborators

Smith-Vaniz, W.F., 1995. Carangidae. Jureles, pámpanos, cojinúas, zapateros, cocineros, casabes, macarelas, chicharros, jorobados, medregales, pez pilota. p. 940-986. In W. Fischer, F. Krupp, W. Schneider, C. Sommer, K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) Guia FAO para Identification de Especies para lo Fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. 3 Vols. FAO, Rome. (Ref. 9283)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 07 September 2018

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Venomous (Ref. 9283)





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes; bait: occasionally
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | GoMexSI (interaction data) | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 21.8 - 28, mean 25.5 °C (based on 554 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5312   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00759 (0.00533 - 0.01079), b=2.87 (2.81 - 2.93), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.3   ±0.5 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (25 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 43.3 [17.4, 91.0] mg/100g; Iron = 0.907 [0.475, 1.732] mg/100g; Protein = 20.7 [19.6, 21.8] %; Omega3 = 0.275 [0.157, 0.475] g/100g; Selenium = 13.3 [6.0, 26.5] μg/100g; VitaminA = 63.6 [18.5, 220.9] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.738 [0.467, 1.117] mg/100g (wet weight);