King gar

Scomberesox scombroides

Elongated jaws forming a beak with longer lower jaw

Cross-climate
Temperate
Tropical
Near the Equator
Southern Hemisphere
Transcontinental
Atlantic Ocean
Indian Ocean
Pacific Ocean
Africa
South America
Fusiform
Medium
Tropical fish

Scomberesox scombroides, the king gar, is a species of saury, a fish in the family Scomberesocidae which is widespread in the temperate oceans of the Southern Hemisphere. It is a slender, elongated fish which has a small mouth with long extensions of both jaws forming a beak with the extension of the lower jaw being slightly longer than that of the upper jaw, the dorsal and anal fins are set far back on the body and have short bases, each is followed by 5-7 finlets between them and the deeply forked homocercal tail. Scomberesox scombroides is an epipelagic, schooling species which is found in the open sea near the surface, although it occasionally enters bays and inlets.

Class: Teleosts
Order: Needlefishes, Halfbeaks, and Allies
Family: Scomberesocidae
Genus: Scomberesox
Maximum length: 50 cm
Body shape: fusiform
Distribution: Atlantic, Indian and Pacific: generally circumglobal in temperate waters of the southern hemisphere. More common between 30°-40°S, but more northerly to 15°S near Africa and to near equator off Ecuador along South American west coast (particularly the young and juveniles). Highly migratory species.

Report a correction