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
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.
The map below shows the Australian distribution of the species based on public sightings and specimens in Australian Museums. Source: Atlas of Living Australia.
Distribution by collection data
Ozcam map of Largescale Saury specimens in the Australian Museums.
Classification
- Species:
- undosquamis
- Genus:
- Saurida
- Family:
- Synodontidae
- Order:
- Aulopiformes
- Class:
- Actinopterygii
- Subphylum:
- Vertebrata
- Phylum:
- Chordata
- Kingdom:
- Animalia
References
- Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 292.
- 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, Brushtooth Lizardfish, Checkered Lizardfish, Large Scale Grinner, Large-scaled Grinner, brown, dots/spots, white underside, > 1m, tropical water,
