Totoaba macdonaldi
Giant croaker of the Gulf of California, in Mexico, endangered by fishing and loss of habitat. If it is on the hook, release it with care.
Also called: pescada-totoaba, totoaba, corvinata totoaba
Fish of the family Sciaenidae, with an elongated body, reaching 200 cm and 100 kg. It lives only in the Gulf of California, in coastal and brackish waters from 10 m deep, between the bottom and the water above it. Juveniles stay at river mouths and near rocky shores. It eats fish and shrimp. It was once very abundant, but is now endangered by fishing and by habitat change. It is caught in commercial fishing and also appears in sport fishing.
Essential profile. Identification, where it occurs and rules, with data from FishBase and the cited regulations. Season, time of day, technique and bait are added once we have a good source for the totoaba; in the meantime, see the similar species.
Elongated, fusiform body, typical of croakers, but much larger than the others in the gulf: it reaches 200 cm, while the Fortune weakfish (Cynoscion othonopterus) and the shortfin corvina (Cynoscion parvipinnis), which live in the same gulf, reach 70 and 69 cm. Adults stay in coastal waters, and juveniles, at river mouths and near rocky shores. Size is the main feature for telling it apart.
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Each card shows the day's index (0 to 100) and, below it, a strip with the index for each hour, from 0h to 23h. from poor to excellent.
Essential profile: the index uses a general fish model (weather, sun, moon and tide), without a season or time of day specific to this species.
Occurs only in the Gulf of California, in Mexico, in coastal waters.
Habitat: Coastal waters from 10 m deep, with juveniles at river mouths and rocky shores.
Summary of the regulations we found, with the source for each. Rules change; before keeping or transporting fish, check with the state environmental agency.
The totoaba is listed in NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010 as an endangered species and in Appendix I of CITES, which bans international trade. Fishing for the species has been closed in Mexico since the total ban of 1975. If you hook one by mistake, release it right away.
Source: NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010 (DOF Dec 30, 2010) and CITES, Appendix I
Harmless to people. Endangered species: if it is on the hook, release it carefully and quickly, with the fish in the water.
Length-weight relationship W = a·Lb (a = 0.00692, b = 3.05; FishBase (relação peso-comprimento bayesiana, estimativa da própria espécie)). It's an average: a fat or lean fish can vary by 10% to 20%.
estimated weight
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Essential profile: size, length-weight, depth, countries and conservation come from FishBase and the cited regulations, and the texts were written from those sources. Season, time of day, sensitivities, technique and baits and lures are not included yet, because we did not find a good source for this species.
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