Species: Selar crumenophthalmus, Bigeye Scad, Purse-eyed Scad

Selar crumenophthalmus (Bloch, 1793)

Bigeye Scad, Purse-eyed Scad

Body elongate, fusiform, moderately compressed; eye covered with fatty eyelid, with vertical slit in center; margin of bone at rear end of gill chamber with 2 papillae, 1 small one at top, 1 large one at bottom, bottom one with large notch below it; gill rakers 9-12 + 27-37; dorsal rays VIII + I, 24-27, 2 fins close together, no free spines at front; anal rays II free spines +I, 21-23; no isolated finlets after dorsal & anal fins; pectoral longer than head; lateral line extension to nape ends before origin of dorsal fin; tail base slender; tail strongly forked; front curved part of lateral line with a long, low arch, straight part with 0-11 scales and 29-42 scutes; body more or less covered with small scales.

Metallic blue to bluish green above, shading to white below; a yellow stripe sometimes present from opercle margin to upper part of caudal fin base.

Size: to 30 cm.

Habitat: pelagic, forms inshore schools.

Depth: 0-170 m.

Worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas; Nova Scotia to southern Brazil.