Alepis Swainson, 1839
Dorsal accessory lateral line terminating in front of spinous dorsal fin. Teeth in both jaws consisting of a single row of continuous, small comblike teeth. Shoulder girdle (cleithrum) margin smooth, without papillae. Terminal ray of dorsal and anal fins closely positioned to adjacent ray and completely attached by inter-radial membrane; spinous dorsal fin moderately high, longest spine slightly shorter than length of soft dorsal fin lobe. No enlarged scute-like scales anteriorly in curved lateral line; scutes present in straight lateral line.
Habitat: pelagic, from near surface to below 1,000 m, sometimes approaching inshore waters; swift swimmers. Food: carnivorous on fishes, cephalopods, tunicates and crustaceans. Reproduction: gonads of adolescents are hermaphroditic, but there is no proof that the species is a functional hermaphrodite; little is known of spawning areas, but young specimens have been taken off Bermuda.
Distribution: northward to southern Portugal and from Iceland to the Faroes, also Mediterranean (Sicily occasionally). Elsewhere, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico; probably also South Atlantic and Pacific, but no specific identifications.
Species 3 or 4; in Clofnam area 1 (immigrant).
Species of this genus in the program:
Alepes djedaba