The corvina, also known as the corvina drum (Cilus gilberti), is a saltwater

Seawater

Seawater is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% . This means that every kilogram of seawater has approximately of dissolved salts . The average density of seawater at the ocean surface is 1.025 g/ml...

 fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

 of the Sciaenidae

Sciaenidae

Sciaenidae is a family of fish commonly called drums, croakers, or hardheads for the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make...

 family (commonly called croakers or drums). It inhabits mostly tropical to temperate

Temperate

In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...

 coastal waters of the southeastern Pacific along Central and South America. The corvina is highly prized in South America as a food fish.

Description

The corvina is similar in appearance to its relatives the weakfish

Weakfish

The weakfish, Cynoscion regalis, is a marine fish of the drum family Sciaenidae.The head and back of this fish are dark brown in color with a greenish tinge. The sides have a faint silvery hue with dusky specks, and the belly is white. The origin of its name is based on the weakness of the mouth...

 and spotted seatrout

Spotted Seatrout

The spotted seatrout also known as speckled trout,or spotted weakfish is a common estuary fish found in the southern United States...

. Its body is blue-grey on top, silvery overall with small scales, and is elongate and somewhat compressed in shape. It has a large mouth and a dorsal fin that is deeply notched between spiny and soft parts. It reaches 75 cm (29.5 in) in length.

Range and habitat

The corvina is found along the South American Pacific coastline from Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

 to Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

, and also in the Galapagos. It inhabits soft bottoms at a depth of 5 to 50 m (16.4 to 164 ft).