Author: Linnaeus, 1766
Caranx hippos Linnaeus, 1766
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Caranx hippos (Linnaeus, 1766) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: well-developed adipose eyelid, more extensive posteriorly. Upper jaw with an irregular series of strong to moderate canines, flanked by an inner band; teeth in lower jaw essentially in a single row. Gillrakers (including rudiments) 3-6 upper, 15-17 lower on first gill arch. Shoulder girdle (cleithrum) margin smooth, without papillae. Dorsal fin VIII + I + 19-22; anal fin II + I + 16-18; terminal ray of dorsal and anal fins closely positioned to adjacent ray and completely attached by inter-radial membrane; height of spinous dorsal fin distinctly shorter than length of soft dorsal fin lobe; dorsal lobe shorter than head length, contained about 4.4-5.7 times in fork length. Straight lateral line with 23-37 scutes; chest naked except for a small median patch of scales in front of pelvic fins. Colour: body greenish to bluish or bluish-black above and silvery white to yellowish or golden below; in adults, a dusky blotch on pectoral fin. Size: to 101 cm total length and 25 kg, common to 60 cm.
Habitat: common on shallow flats, but large fish may occur offshore to depths of 350 m; occurs in moderate to large schools, often found in brackish water and occasionally ascends rivers. Food: primarily other fishes, also shrimps and other invertebrates. Reproduction: see family.
Distribution: eastern Atlantic, Portugal, Madeira and African coast; western Mediterranean. Elsewhere, southward to southern Angola in the eastern Atlantic, and Nova Scotia to Uruguay in the western Atlantic; the eastern Pacific Caranx caninus very closely related.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Nichols, 1937b: 1-6; 1939: 7 | Berry, 1959a: 505-506, fig. 81-85 | Bini, 1967-1972, 1968, 5: 58, 2 fig.| Rodriguez, 1972: passim.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.