CARANGIDAE


Atule mate, 19.2 cm SL
(photo by Seishi Kimura)


Atule mate
(Cuvier, 1833)
Yellowtail Scad

D VIII + I, 22-25; A II + I, 18-21; GR 10-13 + 26-31 = 37-44.

Body elongate oval, moderately compressed; dorsal and ventral profiles almost equally convex. Snout pointed; adipose eyelid well developed and completely covering eye except for a vertical slit centered on pupil. Shoulder girdle (cleithrum) margin smooth. Last rays of dorsal and anal fins about twice as long as penultimate rays and more separated, though still joined basally by membrane. Scutes 36-49. Color: body silvery olive-green dorsally, silvery white ventrally; a black spot posteriorly on opercle; caudal fin yellow. Size: maximum length about 30 cm. Distribution: widely distributed in Indo-Pacific, from eastern coast of Africa to Hawaii. Remarks: occurring in schools at depths to about 50 m. Marketed fresh, or dried.