Malabar trevally

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Malabar trevally

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Carangiformes
Family: Carangidae
Genus: Carangoides
Species:
C. malabaricus
Binomial name
Carangoides malabaricus
(
Schneider
, 1801)
Range of the Malabar trevally
Synonyms
  • Scomber malabaricus,
    (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
  • Caranx malabaricus,
    (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
  • Carangoides rectipinnus,
    (Williams, 1958)
  • Carangoides rhomboides,
    (Kotthaus, 1974)

The Malabar trevally (Carangoides malabaricus), also known as the Malabar jack, Malabar kingfish or nakedshield kingfish, is a

predator, taking a variety of small fish, cephalopods and crustaceans
. The species is of minor economic importance throughout its range, caught by a variety of net and handline methods.

Taxonomy and naming

The Malabar trevally is one of 21 species in the genus Carangoides which falls into the jack and horse mackerel family Carangidae, the Carangidae are part of the order Carangiformes.[2]

The Malabar trevally was first

junior synonyms under the ICZN rules for classification and therefore are discarded.[4]
In English, the species nearly always goes under the
Malabar is a region of southern India, from where the type locality of the fish, Tranquebar, was recorded.[3]

Description

anal fins.[5] The top of the head is strongly elevated to nape, and almost straight. Both jaws have bands of small villiform teeth, although the anterior teeth may be conical in shape. The gill rakers number eight to 12 on the upper limb and 21 to 27 on the lower limb of the first gill arch.[6] The species has 24 vertebrae, 10 upper and 14 lower. The dorsal fin is divided into two segments; a short, high fin containing eight spines and a second, long fin consisting of one spine followed by 20 to 23 soft rays. The anal fin has 2 detached spines followed by a single spine connected to 17 to 19 soft rays.[7] The lateral line has a moderate anterior curve before, intersecting the straight section between the twelfth and fourteenth soft rays of the second dorsal fin. The straight section of the lateral line contains 19 to 36 weak scutes, and 31 to 55 combined scutes and scales on the entire line.[6] The breast area of the fish is devoid of any scales, reaching from each pectoral fin back to the pelvic fin and occasionally to the origin of the anal fin. The species reaches a maximum known length 60 cm (24 in), although is much more common below 30 cm (12 in).[8]

The colour of the Malabar trevally is usually a silver overlain by a bluish-grey hue on the upper side of the fish fading to a silvery white on the underside and lower flanks. The opercle has a single small black spot on the upper margin, and the tongue is a distinctive greyish brown to brown.[7] The caudal fin, soft dorsal and anal fins are pale greenish yellow to dusky, while other fins are hyaline in appearance. The tips of the dorsal, anal and caudal fins are occasionally edged in a shade of white.[8]

Distribution and habitat

The Malabar trevally is broadly distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It occurs from South Africa and Madagascar in the west,[5] north along the east African coast and into the Persian Gulf, but has not been recorded from the Red Sea[9] since 1860, where a capture was reported under the name Caranx malabaricus.[10] Its range stretches east to Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, and a number of small Pacific islands including Vanuatu and New Caledonia. It reaches as far north as Japan, and south to northern Australia. The species is rare in a number of Pacific nations, including Taiwan and Japan, with only a few recorded captures.[11]

The species lives in a variety of inshore habitats, generally present in waters 30 to 140 m deep[9] on coral and rocky reefs. Juveniles tend to school in shallow sandy bays and are able to tolerate moderately turbid waters.[11] At least one recorded capture from an estuary in Thailand has been reported.[12]

Biology

An anglers catch of Malabar trevally

The Malabar trevally often schools, especially as juveniles in shallow bays, becoming more solitary as they age.[6]

The species is not particularly aggressive, feeding on small

mysids, as well as small squids and fishes. Geographical variation in diet is common, with fish in Malaysia taking species of polychaete worms as the preferred species.[13] Studies on gill filtering mechanisms has shown the Malabar trevally's anatomy lies between two extremes, one which is a high filtration area characteristic of planktivorous species and the other of very low area which is associated with species which take large prey items. This further suggests the Malabar trevally can filter the small krill type prey, as well as taking larger fishes and squid.[14] Seasonal diet fluctuation in the species has been observed in northern Australia, where a seasonal abundance of squid causes the preferred prey to change from paenid shrimp to these squid.[15]

Little is known of its breeding cycle, with the only publication on the subject part of a 1984 study in Indian waters. The Malabar trevally's breeding period was reported as between February and October in this location, with the main peak from July to September.

tropical species, but has a fairly rapid population turnover.[17]

Relationship to humans

The Malabar trevally is of minor importance to

ciguatera poisoning.[19]

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T20429800A46664079.en
    . Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  2. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6. Archived from the original
    on 2019-04-08. Retrieved 2019-11-24.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-643-09334-8
    .
  4. ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2007). "Carangoides malabaricus" in FishBase. November 2007 version.
  5. ^
    doi:10.3853/j.0812-7387.12.1990.92
    .
  6. ^
    ISBN 0-8248-1895-4
    .
  7. ^
    ISBN 92-5-104587-9
    .
  8. ^
    ISBN 1-86825-394-5
    .
  9. ^
    ISBN 0-8248-1808-3
    .
  10. ^ Ludwig, Albert Carl; Gotthilf Günther (1860). Catalogue of the Fishes in the British Museum. The Trustees. p. 437.
  11. ^ a b Lin, Pai-Lei; Shao, Kwang-Tsao (16 April 1999). "A Review of the Carangid Fishes (Family Carangidae) From Taiwan with Descriptions of Four New Records". Zoological Studies. 38 (1): 33–68. Archived from the original on 2012-02-29. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
  12. S2CID 84019167
    .
  13. ^
    ISSN 1303-2712
    .
  14. ^ Salman, Nadir A.; Al-Mahdawi, Ghaith J.; Heba Hassan M.A. (2005). "Gill rakers morphometry and filtering mechnism [mechanism] in some marine teleosts from Red Sea coasts of Yemen". Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research. 31: 286–296.
  15. doi:10.1071/MF9940397
    .
  16. ^
    ISSN 0379-5136
    .
  17. doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2004.03.004
    .
  18. S2CID 85573659
    .
  19. ISBN 1-58008-452-4
    .

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Malabar_trevally&oldid=1212823934"