Author: (Bloch, 1793)
Seriola fasciata (Bloch, 1793)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Seriola fasciata (Bloch, 1793) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: end of upper jaw relatively slender. In specimens larger than about 20 cm fork length, total gillrakers (excluding rudiments) 23-26 on first gill arch. Dorsal fin consistently VIII (anterior spines may be completely embedded in large fish) + I + 28-33; anal fin II (reduced or embedded in large fish) + I + 17-20; soft anal fin base distinctly shorter than dorsal fin base; in adults, length of dorsal fin lobe relatively short, usually 10-15% shorter than pectoral fin and 11-13% of fork length. Anterior margin of first pterygiophore of anal fin moderately concave. Caudal peduncle grooves present. Lateral line without scutes. Colour: adults dark (pinkish or violet) dorsally, sides lighter, and belly white or silvery. Juveniles smaller than about 20 cm fork length with inter-radial membranes of soft dorsal and anal fins lightly pigmented; juveniles about 4-26 cm fork length with 7 dark body bars, irregular and broken, third to seventh extending onto the membranes of the second dorsal and anal fins, and an eighth bar, small and dark, at end of caudal peduncle. Size: to 67.5 cm fork length and 4.6 kg.
Habitat: adults occur near to or on bottom in 55-130 m; large juveniles pelagic or benthic in shelf waters; smaller juveniles epipelagic in oceanic or offshore neritic waters. Food: squids and fishes. Reproduction: see family.
Distribution: eastern Atlantic distribution uncertain due to past confusion with Seriola carpenteri; definitely known only from Madeira, where the species is locally abundant. Elsewhere, western Atlantic from Massachusetts into the Gulf of Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Bermuda.