Lile piquitinga

Common Name

Atlantic Piquitinga

Year Described

Schreiner & Miranda Ribeiro, 1903

Identification

Dorsal Fin: 13-18
Anal Fin: 13-20
Pelvic Fin: 7 branched
Vertebrae: 38-41

Body fusiforme, rather deep, and compressed. Posterior gill margin rounded with no fleshy lobes. Eye about snout length. Upper jaw without median notch and reaching beyond anterior margin of eye. Supramaxilla (first anterior) well developed. No backward pointing spine on maxilla. No hypomaxilla. Dorsal and ventral profiles evenly rounded. Dorsal fin centered at about midbody has a concave margin. Pelvic fin under rear dorsal fin. Anal fin small, low and placed rearward. Pectoral fin low on body. Tail forked. Body scaled. Patches of scales on bases of caudal fin lobes. Ventral scutes with keels.

Color

Body bright silvery with a darker green or dusky back. A small black spot on the top of the caudal peduncle. A silvery stripe of consistent width (3/4 eye diameter), runs from gill to caudal fin. Fins unmarked.

Size

Maximum size to 15cm SL but usually 6-12cm SL.

Habitat

Coastal pelagic over muddy lagoons, mangrove swamps, estuaries, and beaches. Tolerant of low and hypersaline waters. Schooling.

Range

Venezuela to Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil.

References

Munroe, T.A. & M.S. Nizinski. 2002. Clupeidaeidae (pp 804-830). In: Carpenter. 2002. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Vol. 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae-Grammatidae). FAO Species Identification Guides for Fisheries Purposes. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5.

Other Notes

The similar Platanichthys platana has 6 branched pelvic rays and does not overlap in range.