Bluestreak Drum, Elattarchus archidium
Bluestreak Drum, Elattarchus archidium. Fish caught from coastal waters off Mazatlán, Sinaloa, October 2020. Length: 10 cm (3.9 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).
Bluestreak Drum, Elattarchus archidium. Fish caught within the coastal waters of Magdalena Bay, Baja California, May 2017. Length: 17.7 cm (7.0 inches).
The Bluestreak Drum, Elattarchus archidium, is a member of the Croaker or Sciaenidae Family, and is known in Mexico as corvineta gallinita. They are the sole member of the genus Elattarchus and is found in Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean.
The Bluestreak Drum has a moderately elongated and compressed body. They are bluish-gray dorsally and transition to silvery ventrally. They have a black blotch at the top of their gill covers. Some fish have dark oblique stripes on their sides. Their anal and pectoral fins are clear to yellowish and their first dorsal fin has a dusky margin. They have large eyes and a large oblique mouth that opens at the front and is equipped with a row of canine teeth on each jaw with the pair at the front of the lower jaw being enlarged. Their anal fin has 2 spines and 8 or 9 rays with the second ray being three-fourths the length of the first ray; their caudal fin has a straight margin; their first dorsal fin has 10 spines; their second dorsal fin has 1 or 2 spines and 24 to 28 rays; and, their pectoral fins are long and reach past the pelvic fins. They have 13 to 18 gill rakers. They are covered with rough scales. They have a prominent lateral line that is arched.
The Bluestreak Drum is a demersal species that is found along sandy bays, in lagoons, and within some estuaries at depths up to 60 m (165 feet). Juveniles form large aggregations in and around rocky reefs. They reach a maximum of 25.0 cm (9.8 inches) in length. They feed on zooplankton and pelagic fish larvae. The Bluestreak Drum is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Bluestreak Drum is a resident of all waters of the Pacific Ocean with the exception that they are absent from Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, northward along the central and northwest coasts of Baja.
The Bluestreak Drum is straightforward to identify and cannot be confused with any other species.
From a conservation perspective the Bluestreak Drum is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are small in stature, exceedingly rare, and seldom seen by humans.