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Species: Trachinotus cayennensis, Cayenne Pompano

All Families:   All Genera:   All Species:

elongate
D V
A 23-27
D & A lobes short

Trachinotus cayennensis Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1832

Cayenne Pompano

Body deep but somewhat elongated, compressed; upper and lower profiles similar; snout blunt; mouth reaches under eye; top jaw extendible; jaw teeth small, conical, curved, decreasing in number with growth but always present; gill rakers 5-7 + 14-17; dorsal fin with V short, stout spines, 1st resorbed in adults, 26-29 (usually 27-28) rays; anal fin II + I, 26-27 (23-27) rays; dorsal & anal fin front lobes low; base of anal about same length as that of soft dorsal; no finlets after 2nd dorsal and anal fins; pectoral fin < head length; tail base slender, without notches above & below; tail strongly forked, tail fin of large adults with very long, pointed lobes, top lobe longer; no scutes (hard, spiny scales) on lateral line; body scales oval.

Dark blue to grey above; sides and belly silvery, sometimes with an orange cast; snout and top jaw dark; in large adults dorsal fin yellow grey, tip of fin lobe and 1st ray black; anal fin yellowish grey, lobe darker; tail fin yellow, with dark grey margin; small adults fins pale, with yellowish areas.

Reaches 56 cm.

On shallow sandy and muddy bottoms inshore and in estuaries; young in shallow water.

Depth range: 0-70 m; adults below ~16 m.

Venezuela to Brazil.


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Salinity
  • Brackish
  • Marine
Inshore/Offshore
  • Inshore
  • Inshore Only
Water Column Position
  • Bottom
  • Bottom + water column
  • Mid Water
  • Near Bottom
  • Near Surface
Habitat
  • Sand & gravel
  • Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
  • Soft bottom only
  • Water column
  • Estuary
  • Mud
FishBase Habitat
  • Bentho-Pelagic
Feeding Group
  • Carnivore
  • Data
Diet
  • Data
  • Bony fishes
  • Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
  • Mobile benthic gastropods/bivalves
  • Sea-stars/cucumbers/urchins
Egg Type
  • Data
  • Pelagic
  • Pelagic larva
Global Endemism
  • All species
  • Greater Caribbean non-endemic
  • West Atlantic Endemic
Regional Endemism
  • Also in Brazil
  • Continent
  • Continent only
  • Extends South of GC
  • GC non-endemic
  • All species
Residency
  • Resident
Climate Zone
  • Equatorial (0-10N, Costa Rica / Venezuela)
  • Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
  • Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
IUCN Red List
  • Least concern
  • Listed
CITES
  • Not listed
Length Max
  • 56
Depth Range Min
  • 0
Depth Range Max
  • 70