Sudis Rafinesque, 1810
Diagnosis: body moderately elongate, its depth about 8-9 times in SL. Head strongly compressed about 3 times in SL; snout long, about 3 times eye and more than half head length; tip of lower jaw distinctly curved upward, hind tip of premaxilla behind nostril; large teeth in lower jaw, fixed and armed with serrated edges; gillrakers tooth-like, on bony bases. Dorsal fin small, well behind midpoint of body, with 12-16 finrays; small adipose dorsal fin near tail; pectoral fins very long, about as long as head and reaching near to pelvic fin base, with 13-15 finrays; pelvic fins a little in front of dorsal fin origin, with 9 finrays; anal fin far back, with 21-24 finrays, no adipose fin in front. Lateral line scales 59-77. Vertebrae 59-60. Colour: silvery pink. Size: to more than 100 cm; still juvenile at 40 cm.
Habitat: meso- to bathypelagic. Food: carnivorous. Reproduction: probably spawns near surface in temperate to tropical waters; juveniles of 15-43 mm have a shorter snout, but longer pectoral fins (reaching to pelvic fin base).
Distribution: northward to about 50° N; also Mediterranean. Elsewhere, southward to about 40° S and similarly on western side of Atlantic.
Species 2; in Clofnam area 1.
Species of this genus in the program:
Sudis hyalina