Onychoprion lunatus, Gray-backed tern

Onychoprion lunatus   Peale, 1848

Gray-backed tern
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Aves | Charadriiformes | Laridae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Pelagic.  Tropical

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Indo-Pacific.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 38.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 8812); max. published weight: 140.00 g (Ref. 356)

Short description Morphology

Wing: 28.0 cm.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Total Length: 35 to 38 cm; Wingspan: 73 to 76 cm (Ref. 8812). Found along the coast and continental shelf (Ref. 356). Exclusively marine. Breeds singly or in loose colonies, typically along cliffs (Ref. 91362). Breeding colonies may be found on tropical islands, along beaches and low sea cliffs. Heavily preyed on by rats (Ref. 84934). Exhibits dipping behavior (Ref. 356). Feeds mainly by plunge diving or by dipping the surface while hovering. Diet primarily consists of fish, especially five-horned cowfish, juvenile flyingfish, goatfish, herring, and dolphinfish, but also eats squid, crustaceans, mollusks and insects (marine and terrestrial) (Ref. 122680).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

SAUP Database 2006 SAUP Database. www.seaaroundus.org. (Ref. 356)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 07 August 2018

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Human uses


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Trophic Ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Fecundity
Spawning
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Physiology
Oxygen consumption
Human Related
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Pictures
References
References

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 23.5 - 28.9, mean 26.2 (based on 33 cells).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Low to moderate vulnerability (28 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.

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