Selar crumenophthalmus
Bigeye Scad
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Carangidae (Jacks)
Selar
Selar crumenophthalmus (Bigeye Scad)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
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.
Characters
Elongate and moderately compressed body; deep furrow and two papillae on cleithrum of shoulder girdle; scutes along straight section of lateral line; lower profile slightly more convex than upper; snout long and acutely pointed; eye very large with well-developed adipose eyelid; maxilla extends to anterior margin of pupil; jaw teeth small and recurved; preopercular margin smooth; gill rakers on first arch lathlike, 9-12 on upper limb and 27-31 on lower limb; branchiostegal rays 7; pectoral fin falcate with 20 or 22 rays; first dorsal fin with 8 spines; second dorsal fin with 1 spine and 24-27 rays; anal fin with 2 free spines followed by 1 spine and 21-23 rays; chest fully scaled except anterior to pectoral fin; lateral line slightly arched anteriorly with 48-56 pored scales and 0-4 scutes on curved section, and 0-11 pored scales and 29-44 scutes on straight section; total lateral line scales and scutes 84-94; vertebrae 24 (10 precaudal, 14 caudal)
Metallic blue to bluish green dorsally and silvery to white ventrally; snout dusky or blackish; narrow yellowish stripe from operculum to upper part of caudal peduncle; small, elongated black spot on upper margin of operculum
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Nova Scotia and Bermuda to Brazil, including the northern and southern Gulf of Mexico and the Greater and Lesser Antilles
Northern Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Tropical to warm temperate seas, coastal waters to 170 m
Biology
Feeds on planktonic and benthic invertebrates (shrimps, crabs) and small ray-finned fishes
Maximum known size at least 270 mm FL
Adults prefer clear oceanic waters around islands to neritic waters (Ref. 5217). Occasionally in turbid waters (Ref. 9283). Pelagic (Ref. 58302). Individuals travel in compact groups of hundreds of thousands of fish. Mainly nocturnal in habit, they disperse at night to feed on small shrimps, benthic invertebrates, and forams when inshore, and zooplankton and fish larvae when offshore (Ref. 9283, 90102). Marketed fresh and salted or dried (Ref. 9283). Reported to reach 70 cm TL (Ref. 48635).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-11-07. Resilience: High (K=0.6-0.9).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: highly commercial; gamefish.
References
Longley and Hildebrand 1941 (as Trachurops crumenophthalma)
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968
Randall 1968a
Randall 1996
Hoese and Moore 1977
Hoese and Moore 1998
Castro-Aguirre and Márquez-Espinoza 1981
Robins and Ray 1986
Smith-Vaniz 1986a
Smith-Vaniz 2001b
Smith-Vaniz 2002c
Boschung 1992
Cervigón 1993b
Castro-Aguirre et al. 1999
Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Myers, R.F. (1991) Micronesian reef fishes. Second Ed. Coral Graphics, Barrigada, Guam. 298 p.
Randall, J.E., G.R. Allen and R.C. Steene (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii. 506 p.
Honebrink, R. (1990) Fishing in Hawaii: a student manual. Education Program, Division of Aquatic Resources, Honolulu, Hawaii. 79 p.
Smith-Vaniz, W.F. (1995) Carangidae. Jureles, pámpanos, cojinúas, zapateros, cocineros, casabes, macarelas, chicharros, jorobados, medregales, pez pilota. p. 940-986. In W. Fischer, F. Krupp, W. Schneider, C. Sommer, K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) Guia FAO para Identification de Especies para lo Fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. 3 Vols. FAO, Rome.
Uyeno, T., K. Matsuura and E. Fujii (eds.) (1983) Fishes trawled off Suriname and French Guiana. Japan Marine Fishery Resource Research Center, Tokyo, Japan. 519 p.
Yamashita, Y., N. Piamthipmanus and K. Mochizuki (1987) Gut contents analysis of fishes sampled from the Gulf of Thailand. p.33-55. In K. Kawaguchi (ed.) Studies on the mechanism of marine productivity in the shallow waters around the South China Sea with special reference to the Gulf of Thailand. Grant-in-Aid no. 61043019 for OSS, Ministry of Educ. Sci. and Culture, Japan
Kuiter, R.H. and T. Tonozuka (2001) Pictorial guide to Indonesian reef fishes. Part 1. Eels- Snappers, Muraenidae - Lutjanidae. Zoonetics, Australia. 1-302.
Jiménez Prado, P. and P. Béarez (2004) Peces Marinos del Ecuador continental. Tomo 2: Guía de Especies / Marine fishes of continental Ecuador. Volume 2: Species Guide. SIMBIOE/NAZCA/IFEA.
Comments On Selar crumenophthalmus