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Atherinops affinis (Ayres, 1860)

Topsmelt silverside
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Atherinops affinis   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Atherinops affinis (Topsmelt silverside)
Atherinops affinis
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Atheriniformes (Silversides) > Atherinopsidae (Neotropical silversides) > Atherinopsinae
Etymology: Atherinops: Greek, atherina, the Greek name for the eperlane; 1770 + Greek, ops = appearance (Ref. 45335); affinis: affinis which means related - in this case to fishes of the genus Atherina (Ref. 6885).
More on author: Ayres.

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

Marine; brackish; pelagic-neritic; depth range ? - 26 m (Ref. 96339). Subtropical; 52°N - 21°N, 130°W - 105°W (Ref. 96339)

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

Eastern Pacific: Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada to Baja California, Mexico and the Gulf of California.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 37.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9273); common length : 28.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9273); max. reported age: 9 years (Ref. 72477)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 6 - 10; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8 - 14; Anal spines: 1; Anal soft rays: 19 - 25; Vertebrae: 44 - 52. Blue gray to green above, silvery below; a striking silver band bordered above with blue extends the full length of the body (Ref. 6885). Branchiostegal rays: 5-6 (Ref. 36497).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Common in bays, muddy and rocky areas and kelp beds, also in estuaries (Ref. 36497). Form schools. Adults feed on zooplankton (Ref. 9273), while juveniles feed on algae and kelp fly larvae (Ref. 4930). Demersal spawner in nearshore habitats (Ref. 56049). Oviparous, with planktonic, primarily neustonic larvae (Ref. 36497). Eggs are attached to spawning substrate and to one another by adhesive filaments (Ref. 36497).

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

Oviparous (Ref. 36497).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann, 1983. A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p. (Ref. 2850)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 01 May 2008

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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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 | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | 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): 12.1 - 23.2, mean 18.7 °C (based on 122 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 1.0000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00759 (0.00422 - 0.01364), b=3.01 (2.84 - 3.18), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.8   ±0.28 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tm=2; tmax=7; Fec = 1,000).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low to moderate vulnerability (27 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.