Diamond-Scale Mullet

Scientific Name: Liza vaigiensis
Family: Mullets - Mugilidae
Maximum Size: 52cm
Identification: Silvery with large diamond-shaped scales, black pectoral fins, yellowish tan square-cut tail.
Favourite: Form schools.
Hide-out: Protected sandy shorelines of lagoons and reef flats to 10m.
Location: Indo-Pacific - E. Africa to French Polynesia. S.W. Japan to Great Barrier Reef and New Caledonia.

Fringelip Mullet

Scientific Name: Crenimugil crenilabis
Family: Mullets - Mugilidae
Maximum Size: 40cm
Identification: Silvery with narrow gray stripe on each scale row; black spot at upper pectoral fin base; rear margin of lunate tail dusky.
Favourite: Form schools.
Hide-out: Often near coral reefs to 10m.
Location: Indo-Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to Line Is. and French Polynesia. S.W. Japan to Australia.

Wahoo

Scientific Name: Acanthocybium solandri
Family: Tunas & Mackerels - Scombridae
Maximum Size: 210cm
Identification: Silver; long slender body with dorsal and anal finlets and elongate pointed snout; occasionally display wavy-bar pattern.
Favourite: Solitary or in pairs.
Hide-out: Pelagic, but occasionally pass near reefs.
Location: Circumtropical.

Narrow Barred Spanish Mackerel

Scientific Name: Scomberomorus commerson
Family: Tunas & Mackerels - Scombridae
Maximum Size: 235cm
Identification: Silvery; long slender body with dorsal and anal finlets; display numerous thin wavy-bars.
Favourite: Solitary.
Hide-out: Pelagic, but occasionally pass near or over reefs.
Location: Indo-West Pacific - Red Sea to Australia, New Caledonia and Fiji, north to S.W. Japan.

Long-Jawed Mackerel

Scientific Name: Rastrelliger kanagurta
Family: Tunas & Mackerels - Scombridae
Maximum Size: 35cm
Identification: Silvery; faint spotting on upper back with narrow stripes below, black spot under pectoral fin.
Favourite: Form tightly bunched schools; feed on plankton with widely opened mouths.
Hide-out: Coastal, lagoons and seaward reefs, often in turbid water to 90m.
Location: Indo-West Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to Samoa. S.W. Japan to Australia.

Yellowfin Tuna

Scientific Name: Thunnus albacares
Family: Tunas & Mackerels - Scombridae
Maximum Size: 210cm
Identification: Silver, yellow dorsal and anal fins; large deep body; long dark pectoral fins.
Favourite: Form large schools.
Hide-out: Pelagic, occasionally individuals or schools may pass by outer reef drop-offs.
Location: Circumtropical - In tropical and temperature seas.

Oriental Bonito

Scientific Name: Sarda orientalis
Family: Tunas & Mackerels - Scombridae
Maximum Size: 102cm
Identification: Silvery; torpedo-like body with closely spaced dorsal fins and dorsal and anal finlets; numerous narrow black stripes on back.
Favourite: Form schools.
Hide-out: Pelagic, occasionally in the vicinity of reefs.
Location: Indo-Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to Central America. S.W. Japan to Australia.

Stripey

Scientific Name: Microcanthus strigatus
Family: Chubs - Kyphosidae
Maximum Size: 16cm
Identification: White to yellow undercolor with 5-6 black stripes.
Favourite: Solitary or form small or dense aggregations.
Hide-out: Lagoons, rocky areas and shallow coral reefs.
Location: Isolated populations in E. and W. Australia, N. New Caledonia, Taiwan, S.W. Japan and Hawaii.

Yellowtail Barracuda

Scientific Name: Sphyraena obtusata
Family: Barracudas - Sphyraenidae
Maximum Size: 50cm
Identification: Silvery, yellowish to yellow tail; long cylindrical body with underslung jaw and pointed teeth; a pair of diffuse brownish stripes on side.
Favourite: Form schools.
Hide-out: Coastal reefs, lagoons and outer slopes to 20m.
Location: Indo-West Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to Samoa. S.W. Japan to Australia.

Brass Striped Barracuda

Scientific Name: Sphyraena helleri
Family: Barracudas - Sphyraenidae
Maximum Size: 85cm
Identification: Silvery; long cylindrical body and large underslung jaw with pointed teeth; pair of thin brassy stripes on sides.
Favourite: Form large daytime schools; disperse to feed at night.
Hide-out: Coastal, lagoon and outer reefs to 60m.
Location: Indo-Pacific - E. Africa to Hawaii and Pitcaim I. east of French Polynesia. S.W. Japan to Australia.

Golden Trevally

Scientific Name: Gnathanodon speciosus
Family: Jacks - Carangidae
Maximum Size: 140cm
Identification: Juveniles / Young Adults - Bright yellow to silver with 7-11 black bars are replaced by a few black patches or spots on adults; fins yellow.
Favourite: Small groups of juveniles to 5m often accompany large pelagic fishes. Tiny juveniles often with jellyfishes.
Hide-out: Coastal, lagoons and outer reefs.
Location: Indo-Pacific - Red Sea to far eastern Pacific.

Mackerel Scad

Scientific Name: Decapterus macarellus
Family: Jacks - Carangidae
Maximum Size: 35cm
Identification: Silvery, very slender, nearly cylindrical in cross section; small mouth, jaw does not extend below eye; black spot on edge of gill cover.
Favourite: Form large schools.
Hide-out: Coastal lagoons and outer reefs to 360m.
Location: Circumtropical.

Bigeye Scad

Scientific Name: Selar crumenophthalmus
Family: Jacks - Carangidae
Maximum Size: 30cm
Identification: Silvery, often with yellow stripe on side; deep-body; large eye (diameter greater than snout length), scutes only on rear third of lateral line.
Favourite: Form schools.
Hide-out: Coastal reef and lagoons to 170m.
Location: Circumtropical.

Rainbow Runner

Scientific Name: Elagatis bipinnulatus
Family: Jacks - Carangidae
Maximum Size: 120cm
Identification: Silvery olive-blue; long slender body with pair of light blue stripes on sides, often with broader olive or yellowish stripe between.
Favourite: Form schools.
Hide-out: Most common on outer reefs to 150m.
Location: Circumtropical.

Talang Queenfish

Scientific Name: Scomberoides commersonnianus
Family: Jacks - Carangidae
Maximum Size: 120cm
Identification: Silver with single row of large dark spots on upper body.
Favourite: Solitary or form groups.
Hide-out: Coastal reefs, lagoons and outer slopes to 25m.
Location: Indo-Asian Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to New Guinea. S.W. Japan to Australia.

Double-Spotted Queenfish

Scientific Name: Scomberoides lysan
Family: Jacks - Carangidae
Maximum Size: 70cm
Identification: Silver with double row of 6-8 dusky round blotches on side; black spot on tip of fore lobe of rear dorsal fin.
Favourite: Often form small schools.
Hide-out: Coastal reefs, lagoons and outer slopes to 100m.
Location: Indo-Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to Hawaii. S.W. Japan to Australia.

Small-Spotted Dart

Scientific Name: Trachinotus baillonii
Family: Jacks - Carangidae
Maximum Size: 54cm
Identification: Silver; blunt broadly rounded snout, fore lobes of rear dorsal and anal fins elongate, long widely forked tail lobes; 1-5 small black spots on middle of side.
Hide-out: Coastal waters; often in surge zones along sandy beaches.
Location: Indo-Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to Marshall Is. and Line Is. in eastern Central Pacific. S.W. Japan to Australia.

Snubnose Pompano

Scientific Name: Trachinotus blochi
Family: Jacks - Carangidae
Maximum Size: 65cm
Identification: Silver, pectoral and anal fins frequently yellow or orange; blunt broadly rounded snout; fore lobes of rear dorsal and anal fins elongate, long widely forked tail lobes.
Favourite: Solitary or form schools.
Hide-out: Coral and rocky reefs in 10-50m.
Location: Indo-West Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to Samoa. S.W. Japan to Australia.

Pilotfish

Scientific Name: Naucrates ductor
Family: Jacks - Carangidae
Maximum Size: 75cm
Identification: Silver with 5-7 wide black bars. Closely associated with pelagic sharks and rays. Juveniles occasionally associate with jellyfishes.
Favourite: Form schools.
Hide-out: Near front of host.
Location: Circumtropical.

Amberjack

Scientific Name: Seriola dumerili
Family: Jacks - Carangidae
Maximum Size: 188cm
Identification: Elongate; silvery; dark band runs from lip, across eye, to origin of dorsal fin, occasionally an amber stripe from gill cover to tail.
Favourite: Usually solitary, occasionally form small schools.
Hide-out: Pelagic, but occasionally over reefs.
Location: Circumtropical.