Argentina silus, Greater argentine : fisheries

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Argentina silus (Ascanius, 1775)

Greater argentine
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Argentina silus
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Common names from other countries

Grande argentine, Atlantic argentine, Atlantic argentine, ... more

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Argentiniformes (Marine smelts) > Argentinidae (Argentines or herring smelts)
Etymology: Argentina: Latin, argentus = silver (Ref. 45335).

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

Marine; bathypelagic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 55 - 1440 m (Ref. 117245), usually 55 - 550 m (Ref. 117245). Deep-water; 80°N - 42°N, 71°W - 31°E

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

Eastern Atlantic: Svalbard to west coasts of Scotland and Ireland, deeper parts of North Sea and across the Wyville Thomson ridge to Denmark Strait. Western Atlantic: Davis Strait to George's Bank in Canada. Arctic Ocean: east to Finnmark, Norway, Barents Sea (Ref. 86838).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 26.0  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 70.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 35388); max. reported age: 35 years (Ref. 35388)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal soft rays (total): 11 - 13; Anal soft rays: 11 - 17. Scales with tiny spines on exposed parts. Dorsal fin begins above or nearly above tip of pectoral fin (Ref. 7251). Swim bladder elongated and silvery. Body slender to robust (Ref. 37473).
Body shape (shape guide): elongated; Cross section: compressed.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Bathypelagic (Ref. 58426). Prefer depths of 182.8-255.9 m, temperature 7-10°C and mean salinity 34 ppt (Ref. 5951). Probably form schools close to the bottom. Feeds on planktonic invertebrates including euphausiids, amphipods (arrow worms, krill and Thermisto (Ref. 5951)), chaetognaths, squids and ctenophores, also small fishes. Spawns from April to July (Ref. 4773). Growth is slow. Eggs and young are pelagic at depths of 400-500m. Used fresh or in fish meal production (Ref. 35388).

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Cohen, D.M., 1984. Argentinidae (including Microstomatidae). p. 386-391. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, Volume 1. Unesco, Paris. (Ref. 4773)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)

Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FIRMS - Stock assessments | 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; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | 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 | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 1.4 - 10.2, mean 5.5 °C (based on 587 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5001   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00355 (0.00202 - 0.00624), b=3.20 (3.05 - 3.35), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.3   ±0.3 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 6.9 (5.5 - 7.9) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 24 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.12-0.14; tm=5-9).
Prior r = 0.34, 95% CL = 0.23 - 0.51, Based on 7 full stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (66 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate to high vulnerability (47 of 100). 🛈
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 26.6 [9.2, 68.4] mg/100g; Iron = 0.366 [0.142, 1.217] mg/100g; Protein = 15.4 [12.9, 17.6] %; Omega3 = 0.18 [0.06, 0.57] g/100g; Selenium = 22.1 [7.9, 58.8] μg/100g; VitaminA = 24.9 [3.6, 193.8] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.487 [0.257, 0.975] mg/100g (wet weight);