- Where to see one
- 4 U.S. zoos in our directory hold lookdown, confirmed against each zoo's own animal list.
Conservation status
Not Evaluated
This species has not been assessed for the IUCN Red List, so it sits outside the threat scale entirely.
About the lookdown
The lookdown is a deep-bodied, silvery game fish of the jack family, Carangidae, first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Its body is strongly compressed from side to side and rhombus-shaped, with the mouth set low and the eyes high on a concave head profile. The second ray of its dorsal and anal fins is many times longer than the rays around it, giving those fins a scythe-like shape. In the western Atlantic it ranges from Maine and Canada south to Uruguay, including Bermuda and the Gulf of Mexico. It lives in marine and brackish water near the coast over hard or sandy bottoms, often in shoals, and juveniles may be seen in estuaries or near sandy beaches.
Lookdown facts
- The longest known lookdown measured 48.3 cm (19.0 in), and the heaviest weighed 2.1 kilograms.
- Young fish have several faint vertical bars that fade as they grow.
- It is found at depths of 1 to 53 meters (3.3 to 170 ft).
- It has little commercial fishing value but is sought for large public aquarium displays.
Where to see lookdown in the U.S.
4 zoos across 3 states
Find the closest one
Rank the 4 zoos holding lookdown by how far they are from you. Your location is used in your browser to sort this list and is never sent to us.
AZAThe Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Accredited members have passed an independent inspection of animal care and welfare, safety, conservation and education, repeated every five years. Many smaller facilities never apply, so “not accredited” isn't a verdict on its own. What accreditation means · How we check this
Built from each zoo's own published animal list.
