Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 17, 2026

Odontesthes regia

Odontesthes regia is a fish belonging to the family Atherinopsidae, commonly referred to in English as Chilean silverside, Peruvian silverside or sea silverside, and in Spanish as pejerrey or pejerrey de mar.

Last revised
Jun 17, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
260 w
Citations
9
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Odontesthes regia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Atheriniformes
Family: Atherinopsidae
Genus: Odontesthes
Species:
O. regia
Binomial name
Odontesthes regia
(Humboldt, 1821)
Synonyms2
  • Atherina regia Humboldt, 1821
  • Austromenidia regia (Humboldt, 1821)
  • Atherina laticlavia Valenciennes, 1835
  • Austromenidia laticlava (Valenciennes, 1835)
  • Chirostoma affine Steindachner, 1898
  • Basilichthys regillus Abbott, 1899
  • Cauque regillus (Abbott, 1899)
  • Odontesthes regillus (Abbott, 1899)
  • Basilichthys jordani Abbott, 1899
  • Basilichthys octavius Abbott, 1899

Odontesthes regia is a fish belonging to the family Atherinopsidae, commonly referred to in English as Chilean silverside,2 Peruvian silverside2 or sea silverside, and in Spanish as pejerrey2 or pejerrey de mar.2

This is an epipelagic species distributed from the north Pacific coast of Peru to the Aysén Region, in Chile.3 The species has great economic importance as a fresh staple food.2 Although the family Atherinopsidae includes 104 species (13 genera), only 17 species have been cytogenetically studied to date; cytogenetic studies in this group are still scarce.4

References

References

  1. Reis, R.; Lima, F. (2009). "Odontesthes regia". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009 e.T167710A6371187. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T167710A6371187.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Odontesthes regia April". FishBase.
  3. Dyer, B. S. (2000). "Revision sistematica de los pejerreyes de Chile (Teleostei, Atheriniformes) (Systematic review of the silverside fishes of Chile (Teleostei, Atheriniformes)])". Estudios Oceanologicos (in Spanish). 19: 99–127.
  4. Carlos Muñoz; Mauro Nirchio; Julio E. Pérez; Ernesto Ron; Claudio Oliveira; Irani A. Ferreira (2006). "Cytogenetic characterization of the silverside fish Odontesthes regia (Humboldt, 1833) (Teleostei: Atheriniformes: Atherinopsidae) from Iquique, Chile". Revista de Biología Marina y Oceanografía. 41 (1): 57–62. doi:10.4067/S0718-19572006000100008. hdl:11449/68985.