Selene vomer

(Linnaeus, 1758)

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Range: Western Atlantic: Canada to Maine to Florida, (possibly from Nova Scotia, Canada), along coasts of central and south America to Uruguay, including Bermuda and Gulf of Mexico.

Size: 20 inches (50 cm)

Natural Environment: Inhabits shallow coastal waters, usually over hard or sandy bottoms. Juveniles may be encountered in estuarine areas and off sandy beaches. Found in schools, but may be encountered in small groups or in pairs. Adults feed on small crabs, shrimps, fishes, and worms.

General Husbandry: This attractive and quite active species has a silvery extremely shortened laterally compressed body with the eyes set high on the head and the mouth at its lower edge. Juveniles are often seen in the trade, however, adults are by far too large for average size hobbyist aquariums. In fact, adults are often seen in public aquariums because their odd appearance and schooling activities, which attract much attention.

Best maintained in very large reef or fish-only aquariums, especially those with lots of open swimming space/containg few obstructions, and non-aggressive tankmates as its skin is easily damaged, leading to various health issues.

As to diet, will take a wide variety of enriched frozen and fresh meaty foodstuffs, along with any small fish in the aquarium, and should be fed at least once per day. They do school and require lots of swimming space.

Not safe with small fish, tubeworms, crabs, or ornamental crustaceans.

Taxonomy:

Order: Perciformes

Suborder: Percoidei

Family: Carangidae

Genus: Selene

FYI: Captive bred species - yet ‘not’ widely available.

Best maintained in small shoals – five or more.

Will quickly get far too large to remain in average size hobbyist aquariums, therefore may have to be transported elsewhere, possibly to a public aquarium. Yet keep in mind, handling large specimens can easily cause damage to their skin.

Experience Level: Intermediate

Temperament: Peaceful (will eat small fish)

Diet: Carnivore

Coral Safe: Yes

Invertebrate Safe: No

Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+

Aquarium Environment: Fish-only aquarium

Tankmates: Peaceful or non-aggressive

Minimum Tank Size: 125+ gallons for juveniles – over 1000 gallons for adults

Temperature Range: 72 - 82°F (22 – 28°C)

Specific Gravity: 1.020 -1.026

pH: 8.0 - 8.5