[8] Micropogonia furnieri has a slightly compressed, elongate body with a snout that clearly protrudes beyond the moderately large and inferior mouth.

The caudal fin has a concave edge on its upper and lower lobes separated by an angular point.

[9] This species has an overall silver colour on the body with a brown back with dark, vertical streaks running to just below the lateral line.

Juveniles in their first year are found around the mouths of rivers and in estuaries, with the older fish living in deeper coastal areas.

[1] Micropogonia furnieri has a diet that varies with age, with newly hatched fish feeding largely on copepods, as they grow they change prey to migratory crustaceans as well as benthic and sessile molluscs.

It is caught using gill nets and bottom trawls and in southern Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina over 64,000 tonnes were landed in 2018.