Longfin Escolar, Scombrolabrax heterolepis Roule, 1921

Scientific name: Scombrolabrax heterolepis
Alternative name/s:
Black Mackerel
<i>Scombrolabrax heterolepis </i> Click to enlarge image
A 12cm long Longfin Escolar trawled by CSIRO at a depth of about 40m, east of Cape York, Coral Sea, Queensland, 1995. Image: M. McGrouther
© Australian Museum

Fast Facts

  • Classification
    Genus
    Scombrolabrax
    Species
    heterolepis
    Family
    Scombrolabracidae
    Order
    Perciformes
    Class
    Actinopterygii
    Subphylum
    Vertebrata
    Phylum
    Chordata
    Kingdom
    Animalia
  • Size Range
    The species grows to 30 cm in length.

Introduction

The Longfin Escolar occurs in tropical and subtropical areas of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans. It has very large eyes and a large mouth with two or three fangs at the front of the upper jaw and strong teeth laterally.

Identification

The Longfin Escolar is a moderately elongate and compressed fish. It has very large eyes and a large mouth with two or three fangs at the front of the upper jaw and strong teeth laterally. The spinous dorsal fin is about twice the length of the soft dorsal fin. The pectoral fin is very large. A single lateral line runs along the upper sides of the body and terminates near the end of the soft dorsal fin. The species is dark brown with darker fins.

Scombrolabrax heterolepis
A 12cm long Longfin Escolar trawled by CSIRO at a depth of about 40m, east of Cape York, Coral Sea, Queensland, 1995. Note the very long pectoral fin. Image: Mark McGrouther
© Australian Museum

Habitat

In Australia adults are known from continental slope and shelf depths (854 m to 1293 m). Larvae and juveniles are found in depths from 1 m to 150 m.

Distribution

The Longfin Escolar occurs in tropical and subtropical areas of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans. It is not known from the eastern Pacific and south-eastern Atlantic. The species has been caught off north-western Western Australia and off north-eastern Queensland.

The map below shows the Australian distribution of the species based on public sightings and specimens in Australian Museums. Click on the map for detailed information. Source: Atlas of Living Australia.

References

  1. Nakamura, I. & N.V. Parin. 2001. Scombrolabracidae. in Carpenter, K.E. & V.H. Niem (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 6 Pp. 3381-4218.