Teleostei (teleosts) >
Eupercaria/misc (Various families in series Eupercaria) >
Gerreidae (Mojarras)
Etymology: Gerres: Latin, gerres = a kind of anchovies; cited by Plinius.
More on author: Cuvier.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; amphidromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 1 - 50 m (Ref. 4372). Tropical; 26°C - 29°C (Ref. 4959); 32°N - 36°S, 24°E - 171°E
Indo-Pacific: East Africa and Madagascar to Japan and Australia; New Caledonia (Ref. 26587) and Vanuatu (Ref. 13300). Enters rivers and lakes in Madagascar and the east coast of Africa. Not in the Middle East (Ref. 103159).
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 19.0  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 39.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 116875); common length : 15.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4967)
Adults are coastal inhabitants found on soft bottoms (Ref. 44894), over sandy substrate (Ref. 12693). Juveniles are found in brackish mangrove estuaries, sometimes enter fresh water (Ref. 2847, 44894), lakes (Ref. 4323), tidal creeks (Ref. 44894) and lower freshwater reaches of rivers (Ref. 12915). Feed on small crustaceans, polychaetes and forams on sand or muddy-sand bottoms (Ref. 12915), worms and insect larvae (Ref. 12693). Length at first reproduction was reported to be around 12 cm SL, for a population in a South African estuary (D. Woodland, pers.comm. 07/13). Salted or made into fish sauce.
Juveniles enter estuaries and mangrove areas at 1 cm SL and stay until they reach maturity, at which stage they move out to sea (Ref. 36558).
Woodland, D.J., 1984. Gerreidae. In W. Fischer and G. Bianchi (eds.) FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Western Indian Ocean fishing area 51. Vol. 2. [pag. var.]. FAO, Rome. (Ref. 3409)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 126983)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: minor commercial
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