Family: ELOPIDAE, Ladyfishes, Tenpounders, Machetes

FAMILY ELOPIDAE

LADYFISHES, TENPOUNDERS, MACHETES

Tenpounders are medium sized fishes (to 1 m) with slender, fusiform, silvery bodies; the long mouth opens at the front and ends past the eye; teeth small, granular, on jaws, roof of mouth, tongue and base of gill arches; an elongate bony plate under the chin between the lower jaws; a single dorsal fin on the middle of the back; pelvic fins low on sides, directly under dorsal; pectorals are located under the body just behind the gill openings; tail fin strongly forked; lateral line is straight and complete; all fins without spines; scales small, ~ 100 on lateral line.

The family has one genus, Elops, which occurs worldwide in tropical seas with 6 species. One west-Atlantic species of Elops occurs in the Greater Caribbean.