Author: (Cuvier, 1833)
Selar boops (Cuvier, 1833)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Selar boops (Cuvier, 1833) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: teeth small and recurved, those of upper jaw in a narrow band, tapering posteriorly; lower jaw with an irregular single row of teeth. Shoulder girdle (cleithrum) margin with two papillae: a relatively large papilla ventrally and a smaller papilla near upper edge. Gillrakers (including rudiments) 8-10 upper, 25- 29 lower on first gill arch. Dorsal fin VIII + I + 23-25; anal fin II + I + 19-21; terminal ray of dorsal and anal fins closely positioned to adjacent ray and completely attached by inter-radial membrane; spinous dorsal fin relatively high, longest spine about equal to length of soft dorsal fin lobe. Curved lateral line with 21-24 scales and 0-4 scutes; straight lateral line with 37-46 scutes. Colour: bluish-green dorsally, silvery or golden yellow below; blackish opercular spot on edge near margin and a wide golden stripe from opercle to caudal base; dorsal and anal fin lobes dusky with white tips. Size: to at least 25 cm fork length, common to 22 cm.
Habitat: a schooling species taken in 366-458 m off Portugal but known to occur as shallow as 35 m elsewhere. Food: planktonic and benthic invertebrates. Reproduction: see family.
Distribution: one confirmed eastern Atlantic record from Sezimbra Bay (Portugal), where previously known to local fishermen. (This record based on Palmer (1976), who misidentified the species as Selar crumenophthalmus) Elsewhere, known only from the Bay of Bengal to the central Pacific Ocean.