You can sponsor this page

Eleutheronema tetradactylum (Shaw, 1804)

Fourfinger threadfin
Add your observation in Fish Watcher
Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Eleutheronema tetradactylum   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
 Pictures | Google image
Image of Eleutheronema tetradactylum (Fourfinger threadfin)
Eleutheronema tetradactylum
Picture by Randall, J.E.

Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) country information

Common names: [No common name]
Occurrence: misidentification
Salinity: brackish
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: live export: yes;
Comments: Outside distributional range (Motomura, 2022 in Ref. 127963); accounts most probably referring to Eleutheronema rhadinum in Ref. 36073, 40297, 43515, 43538, 48455.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/tw.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Heemstra, P.C., E. Heemstra, D.A. Ebert, W. Holleman and J.E. Randall (eds.), 2022
National Database: The Fish Database of Taiwan

Common names from other countries

Barbure à quatre doigts, Barbudo de cuatro dedos, White salmon, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Carangaria/misc (Various families in series Carangaria) > Polynemidae (Threadfins)
Etymology: Eleutheronema: Greek, eleutheros = free + Greek, nema = filament (Ref. 45335).
  More on author: Shaw.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; freshwater; brackish; pelagic-neritic; amphidromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 23 m (Ref. 6390).   Tropical; 32°N - 26°S, 47°E - 154°E (Ref. 57343)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indo-Pacific: Persian/Arabian Gulf, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka (except the Red Sea and East Africa) to northern Australia and New Guinea. Replaced by Eleutheronema rhadinum (Jordan & Evermann, 1902), in East Asia (Japan, China, Viet Nam) (Ref. 41639).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 29 - ? cm
Max length : 200 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3479); common length : 50.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3479); max. published weight: 145.0 kg (Ref. 4965)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13 - 15; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 14 - 16; Vertebrae: 25. This species is distinguished with the following characters: second dorsal fin soft rays 14 (rarely 13 or 15) pectoral fin rays 16-18 (mode 17, rarely 15 or 19), pectoral filaments 4; pored lateral line scales 71-80 (mode 73); scale rows above lateral line 9-12, below 13-15 (14); vomer with deciduous tooth plates on both sides, except in juveniles (< ca. 7.0 cm SL); posterior part of maxilla deep, 3-4% of SL; short tooth plate extension onto lateral surface of lower jaw, 7-9% SL. Colour of upper sides of head and trunk with slight darkish silver tinge, becoming lighter in lower sides; anterior margins of first and second dorsal fins blackish, remaining parts translucent and slightly blackish, respectively; pectoral fin membranes vivid yellow in life, except in large specimens > ca 35 cm SL which is dusky yellow; pectoral filaments white; anterior margin of pelvic fin yellow and other parts white; base of caudal fin yellowish, other parts blackish (Ref. 41639, 57343).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults occur mainly over shallow muddy bottoms in coastal waters. Also enter rivers (Ref. 3479, 6390, 11230). Juveniles found in estuaries. During winter, adults ascend the rivers. They usually form loose schools, although larger fish are more often observed in pairs or singly (Ref. 6390). Feed on prawns and fish (largely members of Mugilidae, Engraulidae, and Sciaenidae) with occasional polychaetes. Frequency of crustaceans to fish in the diet varies seasonally. Larvae (7-30 mm TL) feed mainly on copepods and mysids but also take shrimps and prawn larvae (Ref. 57343). Juveniles (31-60 TL) feed on prawns shrimps and mysids (Ref. 57343). Protandrous hermaphrodites. Marketed fresh, frozen, and dried or salted.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

In Australia, fish are males at 24-47 cm FL, hermaphrodites at 25-46 cm FL and females at 28-72 cm FL. On the northeast Queensland coast, most blue threadfin are females by 45-50 cm FL. Hermaphroditic blue threadfin develop fom 1-2-year-old fish, and females first appear as 2-3-year-old individuals (Ref. 28736). Male fish probably commence sex reversal immediately after spawning (ie about April-May) and this condition may persist until after the next spawning period (Ref. 28736). The progression from hermaphrodites to females is complete by the following season. There is little information on the larvae, although nursery areas are known to be lower estuaries, tidal swamps and lagoons, and shallows along the foreshores (Williams 1997).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Motomura, H., Y. Iwatsuki, S. Kimura and T. Yoshino, 2002. Revision of the Indo-West Pacific polynemid fish genus Eleutheronema (Teleostei: Perciformes). Ichthyol. Res. 49(1):47-61. (Ref. 41639)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Not Evaluated 

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; aquaculture: commercial
FAO(Aquaculture systems: production; Fisheries: production; publication : search) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Identification keys | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | GOBASE | | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 25.2 - 29.3, mean 28.6 (based on 2815 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.6250   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00617 (0.00400 - 0.00951), b=3.06 (2.93 - 3.19), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.1   ±0.5 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Fec=680,000; assuming tm>=2).
Prior r = 0.56, 95% CL = 0.37 - 0.84, Based on 2 data-limited stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (90 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Very high vulnerability (91 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   High.