Odontesthes bonariensis (Valenciennes, 1835)

Open encyclopedia reference

Odontesthes bonariensis is a species of Neotropical silverside, an euryhaline fish native to fresh, brackish and salt water in south-central and southeastern South America, but also introduced elsewhere. It is often known by the common name Argentinian silverside or Pejerrey (the latter is of Spanish origin, meaning "king fish," the Latin piscis given rise to "pez," fish, and "peje," a kind of fish, and "rey," king), but it is not the only species of silverside in Uruguay and Argentina and pejerrey is also used for many other silversides. It is a commercially important species and the target of major fisheries.

O. bonariensis resembles the other species in the genus Odontesthes, but it is larger, generally reaching up to 50 cm (1.6 ft) in total length, and exceptionally as much as 82 cm (2.7 ft) long and 5.2 kg (11 lb 7 oz) in weight (reports of even larger are unconfirmed and questionable).

Wikipedia contributors, Odontesthes bonariensis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T23:23:27.309416+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Odontesthes bonariensis (Valenciennes, 1835)

Name authority

(Valenciennes, 1835)

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Order

Atheriniformes

Family

Atherinopsidae

Genus

Odontesthes

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. gigaclassActinopterygii
8. superclassActinopteri
9. classTeleostei
10. orderAtheriniformes
11. suborderAtherinopsoidei
12. familyAtherinopsidae Fitzinger, 1873
13. subfamilyAtherinopsinae Fitzinger, 1873
14. genusOdontesthes Evermann & Kendall, 1906
15. speciesOdontesthes bonariensis (Valenciennes, 1835)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Odontesthes. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 104 records assigned to Atherinopsidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=281825 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:48NRG. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.