All fish / Carangidae

Lookdown

Selene vomer

Also known as lookdown fish, atlantic lookdown, moonfish, horsehead, look down, lookdown jack, ルックダウン, 月鲹, 大西洋月鲹

The lookdown is a very thin, tall-bodied jack with a steep, blunt forehead and a mirror-like silver body, and its long trailing fin rays shrink as it grows. It is kept mainly in public aquaria and very large home systems for its unusual shape and shimmering shoaling display.

Care at a glance

Care level

Hard

Temperament

Semi

Adult size

30 cm

Temperature

22 to 27 °C

pH

8.1 to 8.4

Smallest tank

2000 litres

Keep as

Small group of 3 or more in a very large system

Diet

Carnivore: live and frozen shrimp, mysis, krill, silversides and chopped seafood

Swims

Middle of the tank

Lifespan

10 years or more

Water

Marine (saltwater)

Wild range

Western Atlantic, from Canada to Uruguay, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean

Breeding

It spawns in open water, scattering eggs that drift as plankton. It has not been bred in home aquariums, and specimens in the trade are caught from the wild.

Good to know

It grows to around 30 cm or more and needs a lot of open swimming room, so it is unsuitable for typical home reef tanks. It will eat small fish and shrimps, and it is sensitive to poor water quality and to medicines containing copper.