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Atlantic moonfish

Selene setapinnis

Information and species illustrations courtesy of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Species Information
Size Maximum to 33 cm fork length; 39 cm total length; common to 24 cm fork length.
Diagnostic characters
Habitat, biology, and fisheries A schooling species, usually near the bottom from inshore waters to at least 54 m depth. Young occur near the surface, as far as 180 km offshore. Juveniles may occur in bays and river mouths. Sexual maturity is reached by about 13 cm fork length. Feeds on small fishes and crustaceans. Caught with trawls or seines. Edibility rated poor to good.
Distribution In the Western Atlantic apparently restricted to continental margins from Nova Scotia to Mar del Plata, Argentina. Two closely related species occur in other areas, Selene dorsalis (Gill) in the eastern Atlantic, and Selene peruviana (Guichenot) in the eastern Pacific.
Citations Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 1: Introduction, molluscs, crustaceans, hagfishes, sharks, batoid fishes, and chimaeras. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 1-600. Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae to Grammatidae). FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 601-1374. Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and marine mammals. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 1375-2127.