Lookdown

Taxobox
name = Lookdown

---

|150px
image_caption = A lookdown taken at the Birch Aquarium in San Diego, California.
status=
status_system=iucn3.1
status_ref =IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. . Downloaded on 23 February 2008. ]
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Perciformes
familia = Carangidae
genus = Selene
genus_authority =
species = "S. vomer"
binomial = "Selene vomer"
binomial_authority = Linnaeus 1758
synonyms =The lookdown, "Selene vomer", is a game fish of the Carangidae family. The lookdown was first described in 1758 by the "father of taxonomy", Carolus Linnaeus, in the 10th edition of his book Systema Naturae.

Description

Although the lookdown is similar to the Atlantic moonfish, it can be distinguished by its dorsal and anal fins, the second ray on each fin being many times longer than the surrounding rays. This gives the dorsal and anal fins a noticeably scythe-like shape. [citeweb
url=http://www.gma.org/fogm/Selene_vomer.htm
title=gma.org entry on Lookdown
accessdate=2008-05-01] Also, the dorsal fin of the lookdown has 9 spines and 23 rays, while the anal fin has only 3 spines and 18 rays. [citeweb
url=http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=1004
title=Fishbase.org entry on Lookdown
accessdate=2008-05-02] The lookdown, like the Atlantic moonfish, had a deep, rhombus-shaped, laterally-compressed body. [citeweb
url=http://www.gma.org/fogm/Selene_vomer.htm
title=gma.org entry on Lookdown
accessdate=2008-05-01] The head has the mouth set low and the eyes high. The overall profile of a lookdown's head is concave. [citeweb
url=http://www.gma.org/fogm/Selene_vomer.htm
title=gma.org entry on Lookdown
accessdate=2008-05-01] The caudal fin of the lookdown is forked, as in the Pompanos, while the pectoral fin is similar to a scythe and reaches the middle of the second of the lookdown's dorsal fin. [citeweb
url=http://www.gma.org/fogm/Selene_vomer.htm
title=gma.org entry on Lookdown
accessdate=2008-05-01]

Lookdown are usually described as being silvery on both sides with darker tints on top. Young lookdown have several faint, vertical bars that fade as the fish grows. [citeweb
url=http://www.gma.org/fogm/Selene_vomer.htm
title=gma.org entry on Lookdown
accessdate=2008-05-03] The longest lookdown known was 48.3 cm long [Cervigón, F., 1993. Los peces marinos de Venezuela. Volume 2. Fundación Científica Los Roques, Caracas,Venezuela. 497 p. ] , the heaviest known lookdown weighed 2.1 kg. [ IGFA, 2001. Database of IGFA angling records until 2001. IGFA, Fort Lauderdale, USA. ]

Distribution and habitat

In the western Atlantic, the lookdown is found from Canada [Scott, W.B. and M.G. Scott, 1988. Atlantic fishes of Canada. Can. Bull. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 219: 731 p. ] and Maine south to Uruguay [ Smith, C.L., 1997. National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p. ] , which includes Bermuda and the Gulf of Mexico [ Cervigón, F., 1993. Los peces marinos de Venezuela. Volume 2. Fundación Científica Los Roques, Caracas,Venezuela. 497 p. Paper URL: ] . Although lookdown are common in tropical, Atlantic waters, they are rarely seen in the Greater Antilles [Smith, C.L., 1997. National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p. ] .

Lookdown are found in both marine and brackish waters at depths of 1 to 53 meters. [citeweb
url=http://www.gma.org/fogm/Selene_vomer.htm
title=gma.org entry on Lookdown
accessdate=2008-05-01] They usually live in shallow water near the coast, along hard or sandy bottoms. [citeweb
url=http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=1004
title=Fishbase.org entry on Lookdown
accessdate=2008-04-29] Juveniles may be seen in estuaries [Cervigón, F., 1993. Los peces marinos de Venezuela. Volume 2. Fundación Científica Los Roques, Caracas,Venezuela. 497 p. ] or near sandy beaches [Cervigón, F., R. Cipriani, W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, M. Hendrickx, A.J. Lemus, R. Márquez, J.M. Poutiers, G. Robaina and B. Rodriguez, 1992. Fichas FAO de identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca. Guía de campo de las especies comerciales marinas y de aquas salobres de la costa septentrional de Sur América. FAO, Rome. 513 p. Preparado con el financiamento de la Comisión de Comunidades Europeas y de NORAD.] Lookdown usually swim together in schools, but they often break away into smaller groups or even in pairs. [Coupal, L., E. Bédard, C. Peguero and I.S. Durante, 1992. Repertorio ictionímici de la República Dominicana. Fáscículo I : Acanthuridae - Carangidae. LIRD. ]

References

External links

*http://www.thejump.net/id/lookdown.htm
*http://www.gma.org/fogm/Selene_vomer.htm
*http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=1004