LEIOGNATHIDAE


Secutor megalolepis, 4.4 cm SL
(photo by Seishi Kimura)



Secutor megalolepis, 4.6 cm SL
(from Nah Trang, Vietnam; photo by Seishi Kimura)


Secutor megalolepis
Mochizuki and Hayashi, 1989
Bigscaled Ponyfish

D VIII, 16; A III, 14; P1 15-16; LL 43-49; GR 4-6 + 16-20 = 21-25; V 10+14.

Body disk-like, strongly compressed; ventral profile more strongly convex than dorsal profile. Mouth protruding upwards, with minute teeth on both jaws; ventral profile of lower jaw almost concave. Cheek and breast completely scaled. Color: body silvery brownish dorsally, brilliant silvery-white ventrally; about 10 series of vertical dark bars or blotches dorsolaterally on body. Size: maximum length about 6 cm SL. Distribution: found in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, northern Australia, and Okinawa, Japan. Remarks: usually found in muddy bottoms in shallow coastal waters and estuary. Marketed fresh or dried.