Gerres oyena is commonly found in shallow, sandy lagoons of the Maldives and was previously misidentified as G. lucidus Cuvier in the Catalogue of Fishes of the Maldives, Volume 1, page 66.
Details
§ 01
size
Common to 15 cm; max. 25 cm
color
Pale olive above to silvery below. 7 or 8 faint dusky bars on sides of body, more pronounced in juveniles. Prominent black tips to spinous part of dorsal fin. Caudal fin uniformly dusky.
order
Perciformes
family
Gerreidae
image url
https://assets.explore.mv/fishes/gerres-oyena.png
habitat and biology
This species is found in sandy areas near beaches, extending to a depth of 20 meters. It also inhabits estuaries and brackish lagoons, where it feeds on the small organisms living on the sandy floor.
distinctive characters
This fish has a dorsal fin with nine spines and ten rays, an anal fin with three spines and seven rays, and a pectoral fin with fifteen or seventeen rays. Its body is very slender, with a depth of three to three-and-a-half inches in standard length, and its second anal spine is slender and short, equal to or shorter than the diameter of its eye. Additionally, its caudal fin is deeply forked.