Author: Linnaeus, 1771
Cheilopogon exsiliens Linnaeus, 1771
Diagnosis: dorsal finrays 13-16; anal finrays 8-11 (the former with 3-6 more rays than the latter); pectoral finrays 13-16 (1 unbranched). Gillrakers 17-24 on first arch. Predorsal scales 21-30. No palatine teeth. Colour: iridescent blue above, silvery below; dorsal fin with prominent black spot; pectoral fins dark with pale crossband; upper lobe of caudal fin lighter than lower. Size: to 22 cm.
Habitat: epipelagic in oceanic waters. Food: no data. Reproduction: juveniles with a pair of flattened tapering chin barbels bearing small lateral flap.
Distribution: only occasional stragglers recorded as far north as La Rochelle (France) but this record (lectotype of E. spilopus Val.) as well as those from Mediterranean (Tortonese, 1937; Lozano Rey, 1947) need verification. Elsewhere, in northern and south-western parts of tropical Atlantic.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Staiger, 1965: 694-697, fig. 7-9.
Otoliths (sagitta). Bauzá-Rullán, 1957: 40, pl. 3 (fig. 30-34).