malacho
Elops smithi
Silver, jumping fish of bars and estuaries, a relative of the tarpon. Strikes artificial lures and jumps a lot; the meat is full of bones.
Also called: ubarana, urubarana, ubaranaçu, tubarana, barana
- common size
- 30–60 cm
- maximum
- 100 cm
- common weight
- 0.2–1.3 kg
- record/max.
- 5.9 kg
- depth
- 0.3–20 m
- ideal water
- 23–30 °C
who is the malacho
The ubarana is an elopid, a relative of the tarpon, with an elongated, rounded, silver body, a large mouth and a deeply forked tail. It tolerates wide salinity variation: adults spawn at sea, and the ribbon-shaped larvae enter estuaries, where juveniles grow up in almost fresh water and hypersaline lagoons. It hunts fish and shrimp at inlets, channels, beaches and coastal lagoons. For sport anglers, it is one of the most fun fish on light tackle and on fly: it strikes spoons, plugs and streamers and jumps repeatedly. The meat is full of bones and little used. The ubaranas of Brazil, once identified as Elops saurus, are now attributed to Elops smithi, described in 2010.
fun facts
- The larvae are transparent ribbon-shaped, like those of eels and the tarpon.
- The species that occurs in Brazil was described only in 2010.
identification
Elongated, rounded body, silver with a blue-green back, small scales, a large terminal mouth with the upper jaw extending past the eye, a bony plate between the branches of the lower jaw, and a deeply forked tail. Differs from the tarpon by not having the last dorsal ray as a filament and by its small scales, and from the bonefish by its large terminal mouth, not hidden under a conical snout.
Loading the next 7 days…
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.
where found
All along the coast, at inlets, estuaries, coastal lagoons and beaches; most common from the North to the Southeast.
Habitat: Inlets, estuary channels, coastal lagoons, mangroves and beaches; juveniles in brackish, almost fresh or hypersaline water.
coast
states
Amapá, Pará, Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul
famous destinations
when to fish
best season
In the Southeast and South it is best in warm months; in the North and Northeast, all year.
best time of day
Daytime, with peaks at dawn and dusk. Hunts by day and at twilight, often at the surface.
what affects the malacho
sensitivity The little bars show how much each factor affects this species. Five full: it feels it a lot.
cold and cold fronts
Cold water keeps it away from the inlets in the South and Southeast.
atmospheric pressure
A cold front shuts down activity.
moon
Big tides move the inlets and help.
rain
Heavy rain and very muddy water get in the way.
water level
Follows salt water into the channels and lagoons.
noise
Moderately sensitive; don't pass over the school with the motor.
wind
Moderate wind doesn't hurt; strong wind makes fly fishing hard.
tide
A running tide at the inlets and channel mouths is the hunting time.
depth
Surface and midwater, from 0 to 5 m.
how to fish
- rod
- 6'0" to 7'0", 6 to 14 lb; fly #6 to #8
- spinning / baitcasting reel
- spinning reel 2000 to 3000
- line
- 10 to 15 lb braided line
- leader
- fluorocarbon 20 to 30 lb (the mouth is rough)
- hook
- single hook 1 to 2/0 or small treble hooks
lures
- spoons 7 to 15 g
- 6 to 9 cm mid-water plugs
- streamers and clousers
natural baits
- live shrimp
- live anchovy or sardine
accessories
- alicate
- landing net
tip from an angler
On the hookset it jumps several times: lower the rod tip at each jump so you don't lose it.
rules for the malacho
Summary of the regulations we found, with the source for each. Rules change; before keeping or transporting fish, check with the state environmental agency.
Conservation: Not on the national list (Portaria GM/MMA 1.667/2026). Global assessment with insufficient data. We found no specific federal rule for this species.
We found no species-specific rule beyond the region's general rules.
catch and release
catch and release Releasing the fish alive, quickly and with a wet hand. During a closed season it isn't always allowed: what the regulation says applies.
Hold it firmly from below, remove the hook quickly and release it head first into the current; it thrashes a lot.
in the kitchen
Meat full of fine bones, little used; good for bolinho and broth after grinding.
how much it weighs without taking it out of the water
Length-weight relationship W = a·Lb (a = 0.00617, b = 2.99; FishBase (estimativa bayesiana por forma do corpo na subfamília, comprimento total)). It's an average: a fat or lean fish can vary by 10% to 20%.
estimated weight
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sources and references
The season weights (months), the time of day and the sensitivities (cold, pressure, moon, wind, rain, tide, strong light, murky water and noise) are the app's editorial estimates, based on the literature below and on the field experience of anglers and guides. They are not official data nor a measurement made for this species, and they may vary by region and year. Closed seasons and legal rules appear in the rules section, with the norm and a link.
- scientific FishBase — Elops smithi (ficha da espécie)Names, distribution, biology, length-weight relationship and references. Page checked on Oct 13, 2026. For size, FishBase records 44 cm for E. smithi (description material) and 100 cm for the western Atlantic ubarana under the name E. saurus; the maximum weight in this profile is the one calculated from the length-weight relationship for 100 cm.
- scientific FishBase — Elops saurus (ficha da espécie)Names, distribution, biology, length-weight relationship and references. Page checked on October 13, 2026.
- official Portaria GM/MMA nº 1.667, de 27 de abril de 2026 — Lista Nacional Oficial de Espécies da Fauna Ameaçadas de Extinção (peixes e invertebrados aquáticos)Most recent national list. The species is not on it (search by scientific name in the text published in the DOU, checked on October 13, 2026).
- official ICMBio/SALVE — Ficha de Elops smithi (avaliação nacional do risco de extinção)ICMBio national assessment, published in 2025. DOI checked on Crossref.
- scientific IUCN Red List — Elops smithi (avaliação global: Dados Insuficientes, DD, 30/03/2011)Global assessment. Link given on the FishBase entry (Red List, version 2025-2).
- scientific McBride, R. S.; Rocha, C. R.; Ruiz-Carus, R.; Bowen, B. W. (2010). A new species of ladyfish, of the genus Elops (Elopiformes: Elopidae), from the western Atlantic Ocean. Zootaxa 2346: 29–41.Description of Elops smithi. Printed work; the URL is the bibliographic record in FishBase, which cites this work for the species.
- scientific Carvalho-Filho, A. (1999). Peixes: costa brasileira. 3ª ed. São Paulo: Melro. 320 p.Printed work; the URL is the bibliographic record on FishBase, which cites this work for the species.
