Leerfish
Species of fish
The leerfish or garrick (Lichia amia) is a species of marine fish in the family Trachinotidae. It is the only extant member of the genus Lichia. It is native to much of the eastern Atlantic Ocean, from the Mediterranean and western Black Sea, north to France, and south along the coastal waters of western Africa, reaching as far south as eastern South Africa. They are an important species in coastal recreational fisheries, especially in Africa.
These fish can reach 1.5 m in length and more than 30 kg in weight. They inhabit the coastal wave zone where they form small shoals to hunt other smaller fish, favouring mullets. In South Africa, they primarily breed in estuaries and move to marine environments after maturation.
01Taxonomy
Phylogenetic evidence suggests that a deep genetic divergence exists between leerfish populations in South Africa and Angola, likely divided by the Benguela Current. It has thus been recommended that these populations be managed as two independent stocks.
02Fossil record
An extinct relative, Lichia veronensis Bannikov, 1990, is known from the Early Eocene-aged Monte Bolca site of Italy, suggesting that the genus has inhabited its present range for nearly 50 million years. Another extinct species, Lichia alta Gorjanovic-Kramberger, 1891, is known from the Oligocene of Slovenia. Fossil Lichia remains tentatively assigned to the extant L. amia are known from the late Miocene (Messinian) of Italy, in the midst of the Messinian Salinity Crisis. This suggests that the extant L. amia must have diverged from its extinct relatives prior to this point, and that pockets of ocean likely persisted in the Mediterranean during this period of time.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Leerfish”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Lichia amia.jpg by Frederick Hermanus Van der Bank, University of Johannesburg, Copyrighted free use
- Lichia veronensis.JPG by Ghedoghedo, CC BY-SA 4.0
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