Species: Lobotes pacificus, Pacific tripletail
Lobotes pacificus Gilbert in Jordan & Evermann, 1898
Pacific tripletail
Body oval to oblong, compressed; forehead profile slightly concave; top jaw slightly protrusible, rear bone exposed when mouth closed; jaws with outer row of short, close-set canines and an inner band of smaller teeth; no teeth on roof of mouth; gill rakers 6-7 + 13-15; preopercle strongly serrated, the serrae decreasing in size and increasing in number with age; operculum with 2 flat, concealed spines; dorsal fin with XII strong spines, 15-16 soft rays, no notch between spiny and soft part; anal fin III, 11; soft dorsal and anal fins high, with rounded ends, reaching well past base of tail fin, giving appearance to symmetrical extra tails; pectorals shorter than pelvics; tail rounded, with 15 branched rays; scales moderate sized, rough, covering body and head except before and below eyes and jaws, bases of dorsal and anal fins scaled; lateral-line scales 43-45.
Dark brown or greenish yellow on back, silvery grey on sides; pectoral fins pale yellow; other fins dusky; juveniles generally dark brownish, but may be mottled
Size: grows to 110 cm and at least 15 Kg.
Occurs in bays and brackish estuaries or sometimes well out to sea around floating objects; juveniles sometimes in flotsam; they may lay on their side at the surface and mimic a drifting dark leaf.
Depth: 0-50 m.
Southern California to the Gulf of California to Peru, Cocos Is.
Note: Here we treat the eastern Pacific population as a separate species. However, the taxonomy of this group is in need of revision and the eastern Pacific population may in fact belong to a circumglobal species Lobotes surinamensis.
High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
-
- Marine
- Brackish
- Inshore/Offshore
-
- In & Offshore
- Inshore
- Offshore
- Water Column Position
-
- Surface
- Water column only
- Near Surface
- Mid Water
- Habitat
-
- Flotsam
- Water column
- Estuary
- Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
- FishBase Habitat
-
- Bentho-Pelagic
- Feeding Group
-
- Data
- Carnivore
- Diet
-
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Bony fishes
- Pelagic crustacea
- Data
- Egg Type
-
- No data
- Pelagic
- Pelagic larva
- Global Endemism
-
- Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) endemic
- East Pacific endemic
- All species
- Regional Endemism
-
- TEP endemic
- All species
- 3 provinces (Cortez + Mexican + Panamic) endemic
- Continent only
- Continental TEP endemic
- Continent
- Residency
-
- Resident
- Climate Zone
-
- Northern Tropical (Mexican Province to Nicaragua + Revillagigedos)
- Northern Subtropical (Cortez Province + Sinaloan Gap)
- South Temperate (Peruvian Province )
- North Temperate (Californian Province &/or Northern Gulf of California)
- Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo)
- IUCN Red List
-
- Listed
- Least concern
- CITES
-
- Not listed
- Length Max
-
- 110
- Depth Range Min
-
- 0
- Depth Range Max
-
- 50
