Help with game fish please

[Deefstes]

Hi all,

I photographed this fish at Ponta Malongane, southern Mozambique a couple of weeks ago. It was at about 15m depth and not far from the reef. At first I thought it must be a Kingfish/Trevally of sorts and I've considered Big-eye Trevally (Caranx sexfasciatus) but abandoned that since.

A colleage of mine who used to scuba dive many moons ago but now is a big angler reckons it's a Giant Trevally (Caranx ignobilis) but I'm having my doubts over that as well. In fact, I'm not even sure anymore it's really a Trevally.

What bothers me is the fact that the anal fin is set far back on the body compared to the dorsal fin. On all the Trevallies, the two appear to be almost symmetrical. Also, the pectoral fins of the Trevallies are quite long, this one seems to be much shorter and more rounded.





I'm starting to think that it could be a Dusky Yellowtail (Seriolina nigrofasciata) but I can't seem to make out any colour / patterning that supports that.

Could anyone help perhaps?

 

[Diver0001]

To me it looks like a jackfish. Try these ones.

Lichia amia (looks like the anal fin is too small to be this)
Seriola rivoliana
Seriola dumerili

All are native to Mozambique

R..
p.s.
I agree that it bears a strong resemblance to the Caranx ignobilis but I agree that the anal fin is positioned too far back to convince me.

 

[Deefstes]

Thanks Diver0001,

Very good suggestions those. I doubt this fish is a Lichia amia though based purely on the fact that the anal fin on Licia amia should also be positioned more forward, only slightly less than the dorsal fin - similar to what you get on the Caranx family.

I have considered Seriola riviolana but all the pictures I can find of it shows a yellow band through the eye and across the head, mine doesn't have even a hint of that. I'll investigate that one further as you might be right though.

Thanks again.

 

[Deefstes]

Oh and another thing. It would seem as if the Seriola riviolana has a white trailing edge to the anal fin which I can't see on my fish. Mine does seem to have a white leading edge on the pelvic fins which appears also to be consistent on Seriolina nigrofasciata.

 

[smellzlikefish]

It is a Seriola species of some sort, but I'm not familiar with the species in <ozambique. Definitely not Caranx ignobilis or any other caranx species. It is tough to ID a fish based on color alone, mostly due to variation between individuals as well as variation by mood. Dominant Caranx melampygus (bluefin trevally) turn from the normal silver/blue to a coal black color and many other fish are known to do the same thing. The yellow and black stripes and bars on Seriola are particularly susceptible to fading.

 

[Deefstes]

Thanks a lot. That certainly narrows it down wonderfully. We only have three species of Seriola in our waters:
Seriola dumerili
Seriola lalandi
Seriola rivoliana

I'm having a hard time accepting that this fish is S. riviolana which, apart from the colouration features I described earlier, is also meant to have a triangular looking supramaxillary which my fish doesn't appear to have. Mine is more rounded if you get my meaning.

I haven't been able to find an awful lot on the other two although I have to be honest that they don't sit comfortably with me. S. lalandi is meant to be the only Jack without scutella on the caudal peduncle. What does that mean, "scutella"?

Also, the pictures I can find of those just seem to have a different shaped supramaxillary. Am I reading too much into that?

Last question, you seem confident that the fish is a species of Seriola, does that rule out Seriolina? I'm still gravitating towards Seriolina nigrofasciata. Any thoughts on that?