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.[2][3] It is often known by the common name Argentinian silverside[1] 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),[4] but it is not the only species of silverside in Uruguay and Argentina and pejerrey is also used for many other silversides.[5][6] It is a commercially important species and the target of major fisheries.[4][7]
O. bonariensis resembles the other species in the genus Odontesthes,[8] but it is larger, generally reaching up to 50 cm (1.6 ft) in total length,[9] 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).[10]
^Liotta, J. (2005). Distribución geográfica de los peces de aguas continentales de la República Argentina (in Spanish). La Plata, Argentina, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata. pp. 537–544.