Lichia amia, Leerfish : fisheries, gamefish

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Lichia amia (Linnaeus, 1758)

Leerfish
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Lichia amia   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Lichia amia (Leerfish)
Lichia amia
Picture by De Sanctis, A.

Common names from other countries

Liche, Palometón, Лихия обыкновенная, ... more

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Carangiformes (Jacks) > Carangidae (Jacks and pompanos) > Trachinotinae
Etymology: Lichia: Greek, lichia = corpse like skin colour.
More on author: Linnaeus.

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

Marine; brackish; pelagic-neritic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 50 m (Ref. 3197). Subtropical; 47°N - 28°S

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

Eastern Atlantic: southern Bay of Biscay to South Africa, including the Mediterranean. Western Indian Ocean: South Africa to Maputo Bay, Maputo (Mozambique)..

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 60 - ? cm
Max length : 200 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 57392); common length : 100.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3197); max. published weight: 50.0 kg (Ref. 27584)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 8; Dorsal soft rays (total): 19 - 21; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 17 - 21. Diagnosis: body elongate, moderately deep and compressed; dorsal profile of head almost straight, ending in a pointed snout; eyes relatively small; upper jaw slender and rounded posteriorly, ending below or beyond posterior eye margin; 2 dorsal fins, 1st with 7 spines with only their bases connected by a membrane, 2nd with 1 spine and 19-21 soft rays; anal fin with 2 detached spines followed by 1 spine and 17-21 soft rays; pectoral fins short, comprised 1.5-1.8 times in head length; scales small, those on breast oval to strongly lanceolate, and partially embedded in the skin; lateral line very irregular and wavy, describing a convex curve over, and a concave curve behind pectoral fins; no lateral-line scutes (Ref. 57392). Brown above, silvery white below lateral line; lobes of dorsal and anal fins black distally; juveniles (to at least 12 cm fork length) with brownish black bars on sides (Ref. 3197, 57392).
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Marine, coastal pelagic species (Ref. 57392). Adults are found in coastal waters including estuaries. Occasionally entering lower reaches of rivers like the Kunene and Orange Rivers in Namibia (Ref. 52863). Juveniles often entering estuaries (Ref. 57392). Feed mainly on fish; juveniles prefer crustaceans (Ref. 4332). Eggs are pelagic (Ref. 4233). Popular game fish (Ref. 3197).

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Smith-Vaniz, William F. | Collaborators

Smith-Vaniz, W.F., 1986. Carangidae. p. 815-844. 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. UNESCO, Paris. vol. 2. (Ref. 4233)

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

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 19 May 2014

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
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Predators
Ecology
Ecology
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Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
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References

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

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 | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | 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): 16.2 - 29, mean 26.3 °C (based on 478 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 1.0000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01380 (0.01022 - 0.01864), b=2.93 (2.85 - 3.01), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.5   ±0.8 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Assuming tm=2).
Prior r = 0.51, 95% CL = 0.34 - 0.76, Based on 1 data-limited stock assessment.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (90 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High vulnerability (57 of 100). 🛈
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 36.6 [20.7, 79.3] mg/100g; Iron = 1.26 [0.69, 2.33] mg/100g; Protein = 20.5 [19.3, 21.7] %; Omega3 = 0.346 [0.200, 0.608] g/100g; Selenium = 24.1 [12.4, 44.8] μg/100g; VitaminA = 9.68 [2.53, 33.46] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.526 [0.372, 0.751] mg/100g (wet weight);