English Name: African pompano
Family: CARANGIDAE
Local Name: Naruvaa handhi
Order: Perciformes
Size: Max. 1.3 m
Specimen: MRS/0501/97
Distinctive Characters: Dorsal fin with 7 short spines (invisible in larger ones) followed by 1 spine and 18-22 rays. Anal fin with 2 spines (embedded in larger ones) followed by 1 spine and 18-20 rays. Gill rakers lower limb first gill arch 12-17, excluding rudiments. Anterior rays long and filamentous in juveniles. Body deep and compressed. Forehead rounded.
Colour: Silvery, with touch of metallic blue dorsally. Juveniles with 5 dark bars on body.
Habitat and Biology: Adults solitary in coastal waters to depths of 100 m. Young usually pelagic and drifting. Feeds mainly on sedentary crustaceans.
Distribution: Circumtropical.
Remarks: The similar A. indicus also occurs in the Indian Ocean. Unlike Alectis ciliaris, A. indicus has an angularforehead, more gill rakers on lower limb of first gill arch (21-26 excluding rudiment), and is coloured silver with a green tinge dorsally.