The tille trevally (''Caranx tille''), also known as the tille kingfish, is a species of large

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

fish classified in the jack family, Carangidae. The tille trevally is distributed through the tropical and subtropical waters of the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

region, ranging from South Africa in the west to

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and

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in the east. The species is best distinguished by its rounded, strongly convex anterior profile, with other detailed anatomical features also useful. The tille trevally reaches a maximum length of 80 cm and a weight of 7.2 kg. It is predominantly an

inshore A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...

species, inhabiting coastal reef and lagoon environments, although has been recorded on deep offshore

seamount A seamount is a large geologic landform that rises from the ocean floor that does not reach to the water's surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise abru ...

s. It is a predatory fish, taking various species of fish and crustaceans as prey, with little known of its reproductive cycle. It is of minor importance to

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...

throughout its range, taken by hook and line, gill nets and

purse seine Seine fishing (or seine-haul fishing; ) is a method of fishing that employs a surrounding net, called a seine, that hangs vertically in the water with its bottom edge held down by weights and its top edge buoyed by floats. Seine nets can be dep ...

s. The tille trevally is also considered a good game fish, and an excellent table fish. The species acquired its scientific and

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

s from a local name used by Pondicherry fishermen, ''koton tille'', which

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier ...

then used when he named the species in 1833.

Taxonomy and naming

The tille trevally is classified within the genus ''

Caranx ''Caranx'' is a genus of tropical to subtropical marine fishes in the jack family Carangidae, commonly known as jacks, trevallies and kingfishes. They are moderate- to large-sized, deep-bodied fishes which are distinguished from other carangid g ...

'', one of a number of groups known as the jacks or trevallies. ''Caranx'' itself is part of the larger jack and horse mackerel family Carangidae, which in turn is part of the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Carangiformes Carangiformes is an order of the ray-finned fishes. The order is part of a clade which is a sister clade to the Ovalentaria, the other orders in the clade being Synbranchiformes, Anabantiformes, Istiophoriformes and Pleuronectiformes. The Carang ...

. The species was first scientifically described by Georges Cuvier in 1833 based on the holotype specimen collected from Pondicherry, India. He named the species ''Caranx tille'', with the

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

derived from a local name used by fishermen for the species in Pondicherry, ''koton tille''. Cuvier noted that Jean Baptiste Leschenault, who collected the species, expressed doubt over the validity of the new species despite local fishermen identifying it as separate to other trevallies. The species was independently redescribed three times; the first was by Pieter Bleeker in 1851 as ''Caranx cynodon'', the second time by

Henry Weed Fowler Henry Weed Fowler (March 23, 1878 – June 21, 1965) was an American zoologist born in Holmesburg, Pennsylvania. He studied at Stanford University under David Starr Jordan. He joined the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia and worked as ...

in 1904 as ''Caranx semisomnus'', and lastly as ''Caranx auriga'' by Alvin Seale in 1910. The latter name caused a specific homonym with ''Caranx auriga'', a name proposed for a different species by Charles Walter De Vis in 1884. To rectify this, William Ogilby proposed the name ''Citula virga'' as a replacement, while Roxas and Martin proposed ''Caranx manilensis''. All these names were soon recognized as synonymous with ''Caranx tille'', and are now considered invalid

junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...

s under

ICZN The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the I ...

rules.

Description

The tille trevally is a large species, growing to a maximum known length of 80 cm and a recorded weight of 7.3 kg. It is similar in general appearance to most jacks in the genus, having a compressed, oblong body, with the dorsal profile more convex than the ventral profile, particularly

anteriorly Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

. This curvature gives the fish a discernibly 'blunt' head and steep snout, which is the most obvious identifying feature of the species. The dorsal fin is in two distinct sections; the first consists of eight

spine Spine or spinal may refer to: Science Biology * Vertebral column, also known as the backbone * Dendritic spine, a small membranous protrusion from a neuron's dendrite * Thorns, spines, and prickles, needle-like structures in plants * Spine (zoolog ...

and the second of one spine and 20 to 22

soft rays Fish anatomy is the study of the form or morphology of fish. It can be contrasted with fish physiology, which is the study of how the component parts of fish function together in the living fish. In practice, fish anatomy and fish physiology co ...

. The

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

consists of two anteriorly detached spines followed by one spine and 16 to 18 soft rays, while the

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two en ...

s have one spine followed by 18 soft rays. The

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

is moderately arched anteriorly, with 53 to 54 scales in this section, while the straight section contains none to two scales and 33 to 42 strong scutes. The breast is completely scaled. The species has well-developed adipose eyelids, while its dentition consists of an outer row of widely spaced

canine Canine may refer to: Zoology and anatomy * a dog-like Canid animal in the subfamily Caninae ** '' Canis'', a genus including dogs, wolves, coyotes, and jackals ** Dog, the domestic dog * Canine tooth, in mammalian oral anatomy People with the ...

s and an inner band of villiform teeth in the upper jaw, with a row of widely spaced conical teeth on the lower jaw. The tille trevally has 22 to 25 gill rakers and 24 vertebrae. The tille trevally is generally a uniformly pale

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

to silvery grey colour all over as a juvenile, with the fins being pale to dusky. As the fish becomes larger, the head and upper body become a darker olive green to bluish-grey colour, with the underside fading to a silvery white. The second dorsal fin is olive to black and lacks the white tip shown by ''

Caranx papuensis The brassy trevally, ''Caranx papuensis'' (also known as the brassy kingfish, Papuan trevally, tea-leaf trevally, and green back trevally) is a species of large marine fish classified in the jack family, Carangidae. Taxonomy and naming The brassy ...

'', while the

caudal Caudal may refer to: Anatomy * Caudal (anatomical term) (from Latin ''cauda''; tail), used to describe how close something is to the trailing end of an organism * Caudal artery, the portion of the dorsal aorta of a vertebrate that passes into the ...

and anal fins are yellow-olive to black. The species has a black spot on the upper opercular margin.

Distribution and habitat

The tille trevally is distributed through the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indian and west Pacific Oceans. In the western part of its range, the species distributed throughout South Africa and Madagascar waters north along the

east Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

n coast up to Tanzania, with an apparent break in its range from Tanzania to India. Its range continues from India east to South East Asia and the Indonesian Archipelago. The distribution extends south to northern

, north to

, and to

in the east. The tille trevally is typically an

species, preferentially inhabiting coastal coral and rocky reefs, as well as moving through sandy

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

s and lagoons. The species is known to move with the tide in the

Solomon Island Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

s, entering inner lagoon regions through tidal corridors as the tide rises, and exiting back to the outer reef as the tide falls. This is thought to be due to the fish following small prey fish into the lagoon, where these small species spawn. The species is also known to enter

estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

waters and the lower reaches of rivers. Despite being more prevalent in inshore waters, the tille trevally has also been recorded in far

offshore Offshore may refer to: Science and technology * Offshore (hydrocarbons) * Offshore construction, construction out at sea * Offshore drilling, discovery and development of oil and gas resources which lie underwater through drilling a well * Off ...

waters, living on

s in West Mariana Ridge of the Pacific, where seamount peaks reach to 50 m from the surface. Here it occurs with other normally inshore fishes, and is one of the top

predators Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...

in this ecosystem.

Biology and fishery

The tille trevally's biology is poorly understood, with only basic aspects of its diet known. It is a predatory species which takes other fish and various crustaceans as prey. Known hunting movements have been described above, with it moving into shallow lagoons to hunt small baitfish which shelter and spawn in the mangroves at high tide. Reproduction and growth parameters are entirely unknown. The tille trevally is of minor importance in most

throughout its range, although it is locally important in some areas. One such fishery is in Wewak, Papua New Guinea, where it and three lutjanids made up 50% of the catch, with ''C. tille'' the predominant carangid in the fishery. It is taken by hook and line, gill nets,

s and various artisanal gear. According to Cuvier, the species is an excellent

table fish Many species of fish are caught by humans and consumed as food in virtually all regions around the world. Fish has been an important dietary source of protein and other nutrients throughout human history. The English language does not have ...

, and is also considered a good

gamefish Game fish, sport fish or quarry refer to popular fish pursued by recreational anglers, and can be freshwater or saltwater fish. Game fish can be eaten after being caught, or released after capture. Some game fish are also targeted commerciall ...

in larger sizes.

References

External links

Tille trevally at FishbaseEncyclopedia of life page
{{Taxonbar, from=Q949036

tille trevally The tille trevally (''Caranx tille''), also known as the tille kingfish, is a species of large marine fish classified in the jack family, Carangidae. The tille trevally is distributed through the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-Pa ...

Fish of Madagascar Fish of South Africa Marine fauna of East Africa Marine fauna of South Asia Marine fauna of Southeast Asia Marine fish of Northern Australia