Animal Species:Largescale Saury, Saurida undosquamis (Richardson, 1848)

The Largescale Saury is one of the largest members of its family, and has a impressive array of teeth that are visible when the mouth is closed.

Largescale Saury at Cabbage Tree Island

Largescale Saury at Cabbage Tree Island
Dave Harasti © Dave Harasti

Alternative Name/s

Brushtooth Lizardfish, Checkered Lizardfish, Large Scale Grinner, Large-scaled Grinner.

Identification

The species has a brown back, speckled with white spots and a cream coloured belly. It is best distinguished from other Saurida species by the size of its scales.

Size range

The Largescale Saury grows to around 60 cm in length.

Distribution

The species is found in the Western Pacific region, and in Australia occurs in tropical waters from north-western Western Australia, around the tropical north and south on the east coast to the central coast of New South Wales.

Distribution by collection data

Biomaps map of Largescale Saury specimens in the Australian Museum collection.

What does this mean?

Classification

Species:
undosquamis
Genus:
Saurida
Family:
Synodontidae
Order:
Aulopiformes
Class:
Actinopterygii
Subphylum:
Vertebrata
Phylum:
Chordata
Kingdom:
Animalia

What does this mean?

References

  1. Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 292.
  2. Hoese, D.F., Bray, D.J., Paxton, J.R. & G.R. Allen. 2006. Fishes. In Beesley, P.L. & A. Wells. (eds) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 35. ABRS & CSIRO Publishing: Australia. parts 1-3, pages 1-2178.


Mark McGrouther , Collection Manager, Ichthyology
Sascha Schulz
Last Updated:

Tags fish, ichthyology, Largescale Saury, Saurida undosquamis, Synodontidae,