CARANGICHTHYS OBLONGUS - (CUVIER, 1833)
Picture courtesy of: Alain Daoulas
Actinopterygii (Gigaclass) > Actinopteri (Class) > Teleostei (Subclass) > Carangiformes (Order) > Carangoidei (Suborder) > Carangidae (Family) > Caranginae (Subfamily) > Carangichthys (Genus)
Carangue oblongue, Carangue l'amoureux, Coachwhip trevally, Coach-whip trevally, Sweepvin-koningvis, Xaréu oblongo, Tenjiku-aji, テンジクアジ, 長鰭鰺, 卵圓若鰺,
Synonymes
Caranx auriga (De Vis, 1884)
Caranx deani (Jordan & Seale, 1905)
Caranx gracilis (Ogilby, 1915)
Caranx oblongus (Cuvier, 1833)
Caranx tanakai (Wakiya, 1924)
Citula gracilis (Ogilby, 1915)
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Description
Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 20-22 (usually: 21); Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 18-19. Pectoral fin rays: I, 19-20; Pelvic fin rays: I, 5; Gill rakers: 8-9 + 18-20; Body depth: 36.6-42.6 % SL; Curved lateral line scales: 60-69; Straight lateral line scales: 0-2 scales, 37-42 scutes; Vertebrae 10 + 14. Lateral line becoming straight below 8th-9th rays of 2nd dorsal fin; Curved part shorter than straight part. Body oblong, compressed; Dorsal profile more convex than ventral profile; Dorsal profile evenly and gently curving down from second dorsal fin to tip of snout; Orbit diameter smaller than snout length; Both jaws with bands of small teeth; Chord of curved part of lateral line shorter than straight part and straight part start from the eighth or ninth soft ray of second dorsal fin; First soft ray of both dorsal and anal fins much prolonged; Length of longest dorsal fin ray longer than that of longest anal fin ray; Breast naked ventrally to origin of pelvic fins; Laterally, naked area of breast separated from naked pectoral fin base by having a moderate to narrow band of scales. Max. length: 46.0 cm TL. Depth range: 1 - 35 m.
Color
Head and body bluish green above, silver below; Small pale black blotches among second dorsal fin base; opercular spot diffuse; Dorsal fin yellow with dusky dark posterior margin; Pectoral, pelvic and anal fins yellow; Upper lobe and posterior end of lower lobe of caudal fin dusky blue and the other region of caudal fin yellowish.
Etymology
Carangichthys: from French, caranx = carangue, the name of a Caribbean fish + from Greek, ichthys = fish. Related to both Caranx and Carangoides. Philibert Commerson (1727-1773) was a French explorer and naturalist, he says he derived the name caranx from the Greek word meaning head, and justifies this etymology, because these fishes, according to him, prevail by the head (quia capite prœvalent), and because the saurel (se. trachurus) exerts a kind of tyranny on the fishes of the coasts (principatum et tyrannidem exercet inter littorales pisces). These are singular reasons, and one has all the more reason to be surprised that a man such as Commerson had recourse to them, as he had certainly not been looking for his name so far. More than a century before him, the French colonists of the West Indies called the species of this kind that they caught on their coasts carangue: We can be sure of this by the testimony of Dutertre, Rochefort, Plumier and Labat; And as there is no appearance that the first and ignorant inhabitants of our islands had the idea of making up a Greek name for an American fish, there is every reason to believe that they simply corrupted into carangue the name of acarauna, used in Brazil and among the Spanish and Portuguese colonists for several chetodons and other very compressed fish. The name of carangue is nowadays general among our French sailors for fishes of the present kind that are caught in the torrid zone, and especially for those of a high shape; And Commerson himself tells us that no other name is used at Isle-de-France. It even seems, according to Duhamel, that this name was brought to Europe by sailors, and that in some places of our coasts it is given to the ordinary saurel; Finally, Barbot already has it, and disguises it as corango. Histoire naturelle des poissons par Mr Georges Cuvier et par Mr Valenciennes Tome neuvième, 1833.
oblongus: from Latin prefix, ob- = towards, against + from Latin, longus = far, long, extended, prolonged (here somewhat long, oblong). In reference to the oblong body shape.
Original description: Caranx oblongus Cuvier, 1833 - Type locality: Vanikoro, (New Guinea in register).
Distribution
Indo-West Pacific: Gulf of Aden, East Africa, KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), Seychelles, Madagascar and western Mascarenes (La Réunion, Mauritius), east to Fiji, north to southern Japan, south to Queensland (Australia) and New Caledonia.
Biology
Adults inhabit coastal waters near coral reefs or on sand/rubble bottoms. Usually in small schools. May also be found solitary.
Similar species
Carangichthys dinema (Bleeker, 1851) - Reported from New Caledonia - Link to the species (here). Carangichthys oblongus resembles Carangichthys dinema, but is distinguished by having 37-42 lateral line scutes, curved lateral line shorter than straight part, and 20-22 soft dorsal-fin rays.
Last update: 4, March 2023
Actinopterygii (Gigaclass) > Actinopteri (Class) > Teleostei (Subclass) > Carangiformes (Order) > Carangoidei (Suborder) > Carangidae (Family) > Caranginae (Subfamily) > Carangichthys (Genus)
Carangue oblongue, Carangue l'amoureux, Coachwhip trevally, Coach-whip trevally, Sweepvin-koningvis, Xaréu oblongo, Tenjiku-aji, テンジクアジ, 長鰭鰺, 卵圓若鰺,
Synonymes
Caranx auriga (De Vis, 1884)
Caranx deani (Jordan & Seale, 1905)
Caranx gracilis (Ogilby, 1915)
Caranx oblongus (Cuvier, 1833)
Caranx tanakai (Wakiya, 1924)
Citula gracilis (Ogilby, 1915)
-------------------------
Description
Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 20-22 (usually: 21); Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 18-19. Pectoral fin rays: I, 19-20; Pelvic fin rays: I, 5; Gill rakers: 8-9 + 18-20; Body depth: 36.6-42.6 % SL; Curved lateral line scales: 60-69; Straight lateral line scales: 0-2 scales, 37-42 scutes; Vertebrae 10 + 14. Lateral line becoming straight below 8th-9th rays of 2nd dorsal fin; Curved part shorter than straight part. Body oblong, compressed; Dorsal profile more convex than ventral profile; Dorsal profile evenly and gently curving down from second dorsal fin to tip of snout; Orbit diameter smaller than snout length; Both jaws with bands of small teeth; Chord of curved part of lateral line shorter than straight part and straight part start from the eighth or ninth soft ray of second dorsal fin; First soft ray of both dorsal and anal fins much prolonged; Length of longest dorsal fin ray longer than that of longest anal fin ray; Breast naked ventrally to origin of pelvic fins; Laterally, naked area of breast separated from naked pectoral fin base by having a moderate to narrow band of scales. Max. length: 46.0 cm TL. Depth range: 1 - 35 m.
Color
Head and body bluish green above, silver below; Small pale black blotches among second dorsal fin base; opercular spot diffuse; Dorsal fin yellow with dusky dark posterior margin; Pectoral, pelvic and anal fins yellow; Upper lobe and posterior end of lower lobe of caudal fin dusky blue and the other region of caudal fin yellowish.
Etymology
Carangichthys: from French, caranx = carangue, the name of a Caribbean fish + from Greek, ichthys = fish. Related to both Caranx and Carangoides. Philibert Commerson (1727-1773) was a French explorer and naturalist, he says he derived the name caranx from the Greek word meaning head, and justifies this etymology, because these fishes, according to him, prevail by the head (quia capite prœvalent), and because the saurel (se. trachurus) exerts a kind of tyranny on the fishes of the coasts (principatum et tyrannidem exercet inter littorales pisces). These are singular reasons, and one has all the more reason to be surprised that a man such as Commerson had recourse to them, as he had certainly not been looking for his name so far. More than a century before him, the French colonists of the West Indies called the species of this kind that they caught on their coasts carangue: We can be sure of this by the testimony of Dutertre, Rochefort, Plumier and Labat; And as there is no appearance that the first and ignorant inhabitants of our islands had the idea of making up a Greek name for an American fish, there is every reason to believe that they simply corrupted into carangue the name of acarauna, used in Brazil and among the Spanish and Portuguese colonists for several chetodons and other very compressed fish. The name of carangue is nowadays general among our French sailors for fishes of the present kind that are caught in the torrid zone, and especially for those of a high shape; And Commerson himself tells us that no other name is used at Isle-de-France. It even seems, according to Duhamel, that this name was brought to Europe by sailors, and that in some places of our coasts it is given to the ordinary saurel; Finally, Barbot already has it, and disguises it as corango. Histoire naturelle des poissons par Mr Georges Cuvier et par Mr Valenciennes Tome neuvième, 1833.
oblongus: from Latin prefix, ob- = towards, against + from Latin, longus = far, long, extended, prolonged (here somewhat long, oblong). In reference to the oblong body shape.
Original description: Caranx oblongus Cuvier, 1833 - Type locality: Vanikoro, (New Guinea in register).
Distribution
Indo-West Pacific: Gulf of Aden, East Africa, KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), Seychelles, Madagascar and western Mascarenes (La Réunion, Mauritius), east to Fiji, north to southern Japan, south to Queensland (Australia) and New Caledonia.
Biology
Adults inhabit coastal waters near coral reefs or on sand/rubble bottoms. Usually in small schools. May also be found solitary.
Similar species
Carangichthys dinema (Bleeker, 1851) - Reported from New Caledonia - Link to the species (here). Carangichthys oblongus resembles Carangichthys dinema, but is distinguished by having 37-42 lateral line scutes, curved lateral line shorter than straight part, and 20-22 soft dorsal-fin rays.
Last update: 4, March 2023