Author: Cuvier, 1829
Sphyraena viridensis Cuvier, 1829
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Sphyraena viridensis Cuvier, 1829 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body oblong, jaws elongate, lower jaw projecting; strong canine-like teeth; gillrakers absent. No scales on posterior margin of preopercle, posterior edge rounded. Pelvic fins inserted below first dorsal fin; tips of pectoral fins not reaching pelvic fins. Lateral line with 137-140 scales, 19-21 scales above lateral line, 36-37 before first dorsal fin origin. Colour: dark above, silvery below; in fresh Mediterranean specimens dark bars across upper half of body, extending anteriorly slightly below lateral line. Size: to 65 cm SL, usually 30-40 cm.
Habitat: water column, usually in pelagic zone, smaller fish in shallow waters. Food: fish, cephalopods and crustaceans. Reproduction: no data. Commercial importance: caught in small quantities in trammel-nets and beach-seines (Mediterranean Levant).
Distribution: reported from Mediterranean coast of Israel (Ben-Tuvia, 1971) and from Lebanon (as Sphyraena sp.—George et al., 1971). Elsewhere, Cape Verde and the Canaries. Probably of wider distribution, but likely to be confused with the closely related S. sphyraena.