A Virtual Museum on the State's Fish Biodiversity

Elagatis bipinnulata

Rainbow Runner
Collection Details

Specimens

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Taxonomic Hierarchy

Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes) Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri) Carangidae (Jacks) Elagatis Elagatis bipinnulata (Rainbow Runner)

Description

This species account was compiled from Composite (multiple sources) (Carpenter, K.E. (ed.) 2002. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. FAO, Rome.) and processed using AI-assisted text extraction. It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting. When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page. Learn more about our species accounts.

Synonymy

None / None.

Characters

Body greatly elongate, almost fusi form. Head and snout pointed; mouth sm all, up- per jaw ending distinctly be fore eye (to anterior margin of eye in young). Teeth in jaws in villi form b ands, minute teeth also on roof of mouth and on tongue. Dorsal fin with 6 spines, followed by 1 spine and 25 to 30 soft rays, including a detached terminal 2-rayed finlet; anal fin comparatively short (its base about 1.5 times in second dorsal-fin base) with only 2 spines, the first becoming detached from rest of fin and c overed by skin in fish of larger sizes, the second spine continuous with the following 18 to 22 soft rays, including a detached 2-rayed finlet; pectoral fins short, about 2 times in head length and about as long as pelvic fins; caudal fin deeply forked. Lateral line with a slight anterior arch. Body scales ctenoid, c overing breast, parts of opercle, cheek, and pectoral, pelvic, and caudal fins. Dorsal and ventral peduncle grooves present. Colour: dark olive blue or green above and white below; 2 narrow light blue or bluish white stripes along each side, with a broader olive or yellowish stripes between them; fins dark with an olive or yellow tint.
Body shape: fusiform / normal. This species is distinguished by the following characters: the upper jaw ending distinctly before eye (and to below anterior margin of eye in young); dorsal fin with a detached terminal 2-rayed finlet; anal fin with a slightly detached spine from the rest of fin and covered by skin in fish of larger sizes, then followed by a second spine continuous with the 18-22 soft rays, including a detached 2-rayed finlet. Colour dark olive-blue or green dorsally and on side, white ventrally with 2 narrow light blue or bluish white stripes along sides and a broader olive or yellowish stripe between them; fins olive or yellowish (Ref. 9894,90102).

Description: Anal fin base is shorter than that of dorsal fin base. Dorsal and anal fins are relatively short; with small two-rayed pinnulae just behind the dorsal and anal fins (Ref. 4795). Striking features: striking fins.

Distribution

Circumtropical in marine waters. Found throughout the area, extending northward to Bermuda and Massachusetts, southward to nor theastern Brazil.

Habitat Associations

Pelagic spe- cies, found mainly near the surface, over reefs, or sometimes offshore; may form large schools when abundant. Feeds on invertebrates and fish. An excellent game fish on light tackle and trolling lines; also taken with purse seines.

Biology

Maximum to 107 cm (possibly even 120 cm) fork length and 10.5 kg; common to 80 cm fork length. All-tackle IGFA world angling record 17.05 kg.
Adults are found in oceanic and coastal waters, generally near the surface over reefs or sometimes far from the coast often around floating logs or other debris (Ref. 9283, 11230, 48635, 90102). May form large schools (Ref. 9283, 48635). They feed on invertebrates, mainly on larger crustaceans of the zooplankton, and small fishes (Ref. 9283, 26145). Eggs are pelagic (Ref. 4233). Good food fish (Ref. 9626) and a valued game fish (Ref. 26938); marketed fresh and salted or dried (Ref. 9283); also frozen and used for sashimi (Ref. 9987).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-08-21. Resilience: Medium (tmax=6; K=0.6 is doubtful).

Commercial or Environmental Importance

Usu ally marketed fresh; flavour reported as excellent.

References

Hiatt, R.W. and D.W. Strasburg (1960) Ecological relationships of the fish fauna on coral reefs of the Marshall Islands. Ecol. Monogr. 30(1):65-127.
Smith-Vaniz, W.F. (1986) Carangidae. p. 638-661. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Smith-Vaniz, W.F. (1986) Carangidae. p. 815-844. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO, Paris. vol. 2.
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
Lieske, E. and R. Myers (1994) Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 p.
Smith-Vaniz, W.F. (1999) Carangidae. Jacks and scads (also trevallies, queenfishes, runners, amberjacks, pilotfishes, pampanos, etc.). p. 2659-2756. In K.E. Carpenter and V.H. Niem (eds.) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. Vol. 4. Bony fishes part 2 (Mugilidae to Carangidae). Rome, FAO. 2069-2790 p.
Claro, R. (1994) Características generales de la ictiofauna. p. 55-70. In R. Claro (ed.) Ecología de los peces marinos de Cuba. Instituto de Oceanología Academia de Ciencias de Cuba and Centro de Investigaciones de Quintana Roo.
Allen, G.R. and M.V. Erdmann (2012) Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth, Australia: Universitiy of Hawai'i Press, Volumes I-III. Tropical Reef Research.

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