Author: E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817
Alectis alexandrinus (E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Alectis alexandrinus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body very compressed and deep, becoming more elongate with growth; depth contained about 1.3-1.8 times in fork length. Dorsal fin VII (reabsorbed and not apparent by about 15 cm fork length) + I + 20-22; anal fin II (reabsorbed at a small size) + I + 18-20; anterior soft rays of dorsal and anal fins filamentous in young. Pelvic fins relatively long, about equal to upper jaw length in adults, much longer in young. Gillrakers (including rudiments) 7-11 upper, 25-28 lower on first gill arch. Scutes in straight lateral line 4-20, relatively small; body scales small and difficult to see, parts of head and body naked. Colour: mostly silvery with a light metalic bluish tinge on upper third of body and head. Juveniles with 5 chevron-shaped bars on body. Size: to at least 70 cm fork length.
Habitat: adults solitary in coastal waters near bottom to at least 50 m and strong swimmers; young usually pelagic and drifting. Food: squid and other fishes. Reproduction: see family.
Distribution: southern parts of Mediterranean (Syria, Israel, Malta, southern Spain, Morocco) and eastern Atlantic off Morocco. Elsewhere, African coast southward to Angola.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. No data.
Otoliths (sagitta). Schmidt, 1968: 31, pl. 6 (fig. 75).