Brevoortia patronus, Gulf menhaden : fisheries

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Brevoortia patronus Goode, 1878

Gulf menhaden
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Brevoortia patronus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Brevoortia patronus (Gulf menhaden)
Brevoortia patronus
Picture by McDonald, D.L.

US America (contiguous states) territory information

Common names: Gulf menhaden, Largescale menhaden, Menhaden
Occurrence: native
Salinity: brackish
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: highly commercial | Ref: FAO, 1994
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: While in inshore waters, age 1 and older Gulf menhaden are subject to an intensive purse seine fishery that extends from Florida to eastern Texas fron about mid-April to early October (Ref. 34923). The fish are processed into meal, oil, and solubles at plants in Mississippi and Louisiana (Ref. 34923).
National Checklist:
Territory Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Whitehead, P.J.P., 1985
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Menhaden écailleux, Lacha escamuda, Bunker, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Clupeiformes (Herrings) > Alosidae (Shads and Sardines)
Etymology: Brevoortia: From James Carson Brevoort (1818-1887), studie the fauna from Ohio and South Caroline (Ref. 45335).
Eponymy: James Carson Brevoort (1818–1887) was an American collector of coins and rare books. [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
More on author: Goode.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; pelagic-neritic; depth range 0 - 50 m (Ref. 188). Subtropical; 31°N - 19°N, 95°W - 80°W (Ref. 54290)

Distribution Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Central Atlantic: Gulf of Mexico (Florida Bay, Gulf of Campeche, Mexico), but no certain records from Caribbean.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 18.5, range 15 - 22.5 cm
Max length : 35.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 7251); common length : 20.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 188)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0. Scutes along belly; upper jaw with median notch. Pelvic fin with rounded hind margin, inner fin rays equal or nearly equal to outer fin rays when fin folded back. Pre-dorsal scales modified; scales in lateral series large, those on back and above anal fin base a little smaller and more irregular than rest. A black spot behind gill opening, followed by a series of spots along flank (Ref. 188). Back bluish gray, Sides brassy green (Ref. 37032).
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal; Cross section: compressed.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occur inshore in summer, but at least some moving into deeper waters from October (Mississippi Delta area). Feed in dense schools, filtering phytoplankton, but probably also feed at the bottom. Apparently breed in winter (October to February, with a peak in January). Salinity tolerance range from 0.1-60 ppt, but the commercial catch is mostly from 5.0-24 ppt. Marketed fresh, salted or canned. Mainly used as source of fish oil; also as fish meal (Ref. 188). Isopod is found in the mouth (Ref. 37032).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Make inshore-offshore movements (Ref. 34923). Larvae stay in offshore waters for 3-5 weeks before moving into estuaries where they grow into adults (Ref. 34923).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Whitehead, P.J.P., 1985. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 7. Clupeoid fishes of the world (suborder Clupeoidei). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the herrings, sardines, pilchards, sprats, shads, anchovies and wolf-herrings. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(7/1):1-303. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 188)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2 (Global))

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 11 August 2011

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | GoMexSI (interaction data) | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | OceanAdapt | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 23.2 - 26.8, mean 24.3 °C (based on 178 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5156   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00871 (0.00540 - 0.01405), b=3.14 (3.00 - 3.28), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.2   ±0.07 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 2.6 (2.2 - 3.0) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 33 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.15-0.47).
Prior r = 0.62, 95% CL = 0.41 - 0.92, Based on 1 full stock assessment.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low to moderate vulnerability (31 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High to very high vulnerability (74 of 100). 🛈
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Low.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 109 [57, 187] mg/100g; Iron = 1.58 [0.86, 2.78] mg/100g; Protein = 19.1 [17.9, 20.3] %; Omega3 = 0.485 [0.287, 0.818] g/100g; Selenium = 20.8 [11.2, 43.8] μg/100g; VitaminA = 11.3 [3.3, 33.9] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.17 [0.80, 1.68] mg/100g (wet weight);