Author: Forsskål, 1775
Alepes djedaba Forsskål, 1775
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Alepes djedaba (Forsskål, 1775) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: well-developed adipose eyelid, more extensive posteriorly. Teeth in both jaws consisting of a single row of continuous, small comb-like teeth. Gillrakers (including rudiments) 10-13 upper, 27-32 lower in first gill arch. Shoulder girdle (cleithrum) margin smooth, without papillae. Dorsal fin VIII + I + 22-25; anal fin II + I + 18-20; 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. Curved lateral line with 31-36 scales and 0-3 scutes; straight lateral line with 41 48 scutes. Colour: greyish-green above, silvery to white below; black blotch on postero-dorsal margin of opercle, bordered above by a smaller white spot: soft dorsal fin lobe dusky, pale white distally; caudal fin yellowish, except lower lobe dusky to black distally. Size: to 30 cm fork length, common to 20 cm.
Habitat: usually occurs in coastal waters; a schooling species. Food: invertebrates, mostly shrimp and larvae of decapod crustaceans, and larvae of fishes. Reproduction: see family.
Distribution: eastern part of Mediterranean (coasts of Israel, Lebanon and Egypt); a recent immigrant from Red Sea. Elsewhere, Red Sea to the central Pacific Ocean.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. No data.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.