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Illustration of Salema butterfish
fishing forecast

salema butterfish

Peprilus snyderi · full profile

location

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period

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the species

everything about the salema butterfish

how to recognize it

Short, deep, laterally compressed body, silvery like other butterfishes, with a small head and no pelvic fins. The Mexican and Central American region has other butterfishes of the same genus, similar in shape, such as the Pacific butterfish, so check where the fish was caught.

Also called: peixe-manteiga-salema, palometa salema, Salema butterfish

We don't have tips on season, bait or technique for this species yet.

Where to look: Near the bottom and in midwater, in marine waters of the central-eastern Pacific.

Occurs in the central-eastern Pacific, from the Gulf of California and southern Baja California, in Mexico, to Panama, and is also recorded for Ecuador and Peru. There are no records off the Brazilian coast.

rules for the salema butterfish

Rules change; before keeping or transporting fish, check with the state environmental agency.

We found no species-specific rule beyond the region's general rules.

how much it weighs without taking it out of the water

estimated weight

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how we calculate

Length-weight relationship W = a·Lb (a = 0.01122, b = 3.02; FishBase (relação peso-comprimento bayesiana, estimativa da própria espécie)). It's an average: a fat or lean fish can vary by 10% to 20%.

more about the salema butterfish

The family Stromateidae includes the butterfishes, with a short, deep, laterally compressed body. This species reaches 30 cm and occurs in the central-eastern Pacific, from the Gulf of California and southern Baja California, in Mexico, to Panama, and is also recorded for Ecuador and Peru. It lives near the bottom and in midwater, in marine waters. It is taken in commercial fishing and almost never turns up on the line of anglers who use rods.

Family: Stromateidae · forage fish

similar species

sources and references (2)

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.

  1. scientific FishBase: Peprilus snyderi (ficha da espécie)Size, length-weight, depth, habitat, distribution, biology, and IUCN status. Page checked on Oct 13, 2026.
  2. scientific FishBase: nomes populares de Peprilus snyderiNames by country and language.