Almaco Jack

Scientific Name: Seriola rivoliana
Family: Jacks - Carangidae
Maximum Size: 90cm
Identification: Silvery; high back profile; dark band runs from lip across eye to front of dorsal fin.
Favourite: Form schools.
Hide-out: Pelagic, but occasionally over reefs; often around floating objects.
Location: Circumglobal - In tropical and subtropical seas.

Orange-Spotted Trevally

Scientific Name: Carangoides bajad
Family: Jacks - Carangidae
Maximum Size: 61cm
Identification: Brassy silver to yellow-orange with many small orange spots on sides.
Favourite: Solitary or form small groups.
Hide-out: Coastal reefs and outer slopes to 70m.
Location: Indo-Asian Pacific - Red Sea to Papua New Guinea, north to S.W. Japan.

Gold-Spotted Trevally

Scientific Name: Carangoides fulvoguttatus
Family: Jacks - Carangidae
Maximum Size: 130cm
Identification: Silvery with many small golden or brassy spots; often 5 faint darkish bars on side; large adults have 3 or 4 dark blotches along middle of side.
Favourite: Solitary or form schools.
Hide-out: Coastal reefs, lagoons and outer slopes to 100m.
Location: Indo-Asian Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to N. Australia, north S.W. Japan.

Blue Trevally

Scientific Name: Carangoides ferdau
Family: Jacks - Carangidae
Maximum Size: 70cm
Identification: Silvery; rear dorsal, anal and tail fins tinted yellowish green; usually display 5-7 chevron bars.
Favourite: Form schools.
Hide-out: Lagoons and outer reefs, often over sandy areas to 60m.
Location: Indo-Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to Hawaii. S.W. Japan to New Caledonia.

Bludger Trevally

Scientific Name: Carangoides gymnostethus
Family: Jacks - Carangidae
Maximum Size: 90cm
Identification: Silvery with a few brown or yellow spots scattered on sides.
Favourite: Juveniles and young adults form schools, adults usually solitary.
Hide-out: Sheltered coasts and over deeper offshore reefs to at least 70m.
Location: Indo-Asian Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to N. Australia, north S.W. Japan.

Bigeye Trevally

Scientific Name: Caranx sexfasciatus
Family: Jacks - Carangidae
Maximum Size: 100cm
Identification: Silver (males turn black when courting); small black spot on upper end of gill cover, white tip on fore lobe of rear dorsal fin; relatively large eye.
Favourite: Form large schools.
Hide-out: Most common on clear outer reefs to 50m.
Location: Indo-Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to far eastern Pacific. S.W. Japan to Australia.

Bluefin Trevally

Scientific Name: Caranx melampygus
Family: Jacks - Carangidae
Maximum Size: 100cm
Identification: Silvery iridescent blue to green with dense spotting on upper two-thirds of body, blue to bluish fins.
Favourite: Solitary or form schools.
Hide-out: Inhabit a variety of reef habitats, but most common on outer reefs to 190m; can be locally abundant.
Location: Indo-Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to far eastern Pacific. S.W. Japan to Australia.

Black Jack

Scientific Name: Caranx lugubris
Family: Jacks - Carangidae
Maximum Size: 74cm
Identification: Silvery gray to brown to nearly black; small dark spot at upper end of gill cover; scutes, rear dorsal, anal and rear of tail fins dark.
Favourite: Solitary or form small schools.
Hide-out: Mainly offshore reefs in 20-70m.
Location: Circumtropical.

African Pompano

Scientific Name: Alectis ciliaris
Family: Jacks - Carangidae
Maximum Size: 130cm
Identification: Silver, often have bluish or greenish tints; deep body with steep head profile and deeply forked tail; scales not obvious.
Favourite: Young form schools, large adults often solitary.
Hide-out: Pelagic; often near dropoffs to 100m.
Location: Circumtropical.

River Seabream

Scientific Name: Acanthopagrus berda
Family: Seabreams - Sparidae
Maximum Size: 50cm
Identification: Silvery gray to black or olive brown with brassy reflections, lighter gray to whitish on belly and chin.
Favourite: Solitary or form groups.
Hide-out: Coastal reefs and muddy estuaries, occasionally enter freshwater streams.
Location: Indo-Asian Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to Solomon Is. S.W. Japan to Australia.

Longfin Emperor

Scientific Name: Lethrinus erythropterus
Family: Emperors - Lethrinidae
Maximum Size: 50cm
Identification: Red to yellow-brown, often with faint bars; Pair of pale to bright white bars on base of tail.
Favourite: Solitary or form small groups.
Hide-out: Coastal reefs, lagoons and outer slopes in 2-25m.
Location: Indo-Asian Pacific - E. Africa to Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Is, Palau and Caroline Is. in Micronesia.

Longface Emperor

Scientific Name: Lethrinus olivaceus
Family: Emperors - Lethrinidae
Maximum Size: 100cm
Identification: Elongate body with long pointed snout; gray to olive with no distinctive markings; often display mottled pattern. Largest species in family.
Favourite: Solitary or form groups; highly active and fast swimming.
Hide-out: Sand bottoms of lagoons and outer slpoes in 1-185m.
Location: Indo-West Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to Samoa. S.W. Japan and Micronesia to Australia and New Caledonia.

Slender Emperor

Scientific Name: Lethrinus variegatus
Family: Emperors - Lethrinidae
Maximum Size: 20cm
Identification: Small elongate body; mottled shades of green to brown mixed with white; wide darkish mid-lateral stripe, pale spots on fins.
Favourite: Usually form groups.
Hide-out: Seagrass beds and sandy areas near coral reefs to 15m.
Location: Indo-West Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to New Caledonia. S.W. Japan, Micronesia to N.W. Australia and Great Barrier Reef.

Spotcheek Emperor

Scientific Name: Lethrinus rubrioperculatus
Family: Emperors - Lethrinidae
Maximum Size: 50cm
Identification: Bright silver to brownish silver with diffuse stripe and bar markings on lower body; reddish brown spot on rear edge of gill cover.
Favourite: Solitary or form small groups.
Hide-out: Sand and rubble bottoms of coastal reefs and outer slopes to 40m.
Location: Indo-Asian Pacific - Sri Lanka to Solomon Is. S.W. Japan and Micronesia to Australia and New Caledonia.

Yellowfin Emperor

Scientific Name: Lethrinus erythracanthus
Family: Emperors - Lethrinidae
Maximum Size: 70cm
Identification: Dark bluish head and dark gray body with yellow fins. Easily distinguished from most emperors by large size.
Favourite: Solitary.
Hide-out: Deep lagoons and outer reef slopes in 15-120m.
Location: Indo-Pacific - E. Africa to Micronesia and Tuamotu Is. in French Polynesia. S.W. Japan to Great Barrier Reef.

Yellowtail Emperor

Scientific Name: Lethrinus atkinsoni
Family: Emperors - Lethrinidae
Maximum Size: 41cm
Identification: Silvery to silvery blue or olive-brown, yellow tail and base; diffuse yellow area may extend from pectoral fin to tail base, yellow around upper eye.
Favourite: Solitary.
Hide-out: Outer reef slopes, sandy areas of lagoons and seagrass beds in 2-25m.
Location: Pacific - Indonesia to Tuamotu Is. in French Polynesia. S.W. Japan to Great Barrier Reef and Lord Howe I.

Yellowstripe Monocle Bream

Scientific Name: Scolopsis auratus
Family: Coral Breams - Nemipteridae
Maximum Size: 30cm
Identification: Yellowish to greenish to bluish pale gray upper body and whitish belly; broad yellow mid-lateral stripe, dark diffuse band between eyes.
Favourite: Solitary or form small groups.
Hide-out: Sandy bottoms of lagoons and coastal reefs in 1-30m.
Location: East Indian Ocean - Maldives, Sri Lanka, Andaman Sea to W. Sumatra and S. Java.

Whitestreak Monocle Bream

Scientific Name: Scolopsis ciliatus
Family: Coral Breams - Nemipteridae
Maximum Size: 25cm
Identification: Pale gray body; 2-4 longitudinal rows of orange spots on side, white streak below base of dorsal fin.
Favourite: Solitary or form groups.
Hide-out: Sandy fringe of coastal and lagoon reefs in 2-25m. Frequent silty areas.
Location: East Indo-Asian Pacific - Andaman Sea to Solomon Is. and Vanuatu, north to S.W. Japan.

Whitecheek Monocle Bream

Scientific Name: Scolopsis vosmeri
Family: Coral Breams - Nemipteridae
Maximum Size: 25cm
Identification: Deeper bodied than most members of the family; purplish brown with dark scale centers; broad white bar on head behind eye.
Favourite: Solitary or form small groups.
Hide-out: Sand and rubble bottoms of coastal reefs and lagoons in 2-25m.
Location: Indo-Asian Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to N. Australia, north to S.W. Japan.

Three-Lined Monocle Bream

Scientific Name: Scolopsis trilineatus
Family: Coral Breams - Nemipteridae
Maximum Size: 25cm
Identification: Shades of gray; 3 white to yellowish curving lines extend from eye to back and base of dorsal fin, dark band between eyes with bluish band above.
Favourite: Solitary or form groups.
Hide-out: Sheltered coastal reefs and lagoons in 1-10m.
Location: West Pacific - Central Indonesia to Samoa. Philippines to Great Barrier Reef.