Author: (Risso, 1810)
Seriola dumerili (Risso, 1810)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Seriola dumerili (Risso, 1810) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: end of upper jaw broad. In specimens larger than about 20 cm fork length, total gillrakers (excluding rudiments) 11-19 on first gill arch. Dorsal fin consistently VII (anterior spines may be completely embedded in large fish) + I + 29-35; anal fin II (reduced or embedded in large fish) + I + 18-22; soft anal fin base distinctly shorter than dorsal fin base; in adults, length of dorsal fin lobe about equal or slightly longer than pectoral fin and 13- 18% of fork length. Anterior margin of first pterygiophore of anal fin moderately concave. Caudal peduncle grooves present. Lateral line without scutes. Colour: adults usually blue or olivaceous dorsally, sides and belly silvery to white, sometimes brownish or with a pinkish tinge. Juveniles smaller than about 20 cm fork length with inter-radial membranes of soft dorsal and anal fins lightly pigmented; juveniles (about 2-17 cm fork length) with 5 dark body bars. becoming irregularly split vertically, not extending onto membranes of soft dorsal and anal fins, and a sixth bar at end of caudal peduncle. Size: maximum reported, 188 cm total length and 80.6 kg, common to 110 cm.
Habitat: both epibenthic and pelagic, often near reefs or at deep off-shore holes or drop-offs, usually in small to moderate schools but may be solitary; usually in 18-72 m, but may occur to 360 m; small juveniles associate with flotsam in oceanic or offshore neritic waters. Food: primarily fishes, also invertebrates. Reproduction: see family.
Distribution: eastern Atlantic distribution not well established due to past confusion with Seriola carpenteri; definitely known from Mediterranean to Gulf of Biscay and as a rare vagrant to British coast. Elsewhere, Nova Scotia to Brazil, South Africa, Arabian Gulf, Australia, Japan and Hawaiian Is.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Lo Bianco, 1909: 750 | Sanzo, 1930: 33-34; 1933: 1-12, 1 pl. | Padoa, 1956: 555-559, fig. 395-401 | Bini, 1968, 5: 66, 3 fig.
Otoliths (sagitta). Chaine, 1957: 519, pl. 5 | Bauzá-Rullán, 1961: 154, pl. I (fig. 5-6).