CARANGIDAE


Megalaspis cordyla, 26.8 cm SL
(from Mie Pref., Japan; photo by Seishi Kimura)


Megalaspis cordyla
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Torped Scad

D VIII + I, 18-20 (including 7-9 finlets); A II + I, 16-17 (including 8-10 finlets); GR 8-11 + 18-22 = 26-32; V 10+14.

Body elongate, slender, somewhat compressed. Adipose eyelid well developed and completely covering eye except for a vertical slit centered on pupil. Shoulder girdle (cleithrum) margin smooth without papillae. Straight part of lateral line much longer than curved part, entirely with large scutes (51-59). Color: body silvery brownish-green dorsally, silvery white ventrally; a large black spot posteriorly on opercle. Size: maximum length about 80 cm. Distribution: widely distributed in Indo-West Pacific, from eastern coast of Africa to Fiji, north to southern Japan. Remarks: pelagic, schooling fish. Feeds mainly on fishes. Marketed fresh or dried.