The Elopidae are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

containing a single living genus ''

Elops The Elopidae are a family of ray-finned fish containing a single living genus ''Elops''. They are commonly known as ladyfish, skipjacks, jack-rashes, or tenpounders. The ladyfish are a coastal-dwelling fish found throughout the tropical and subt ...

''. They are commonly known as ladyfish, skipjacks, jack-rashes, or tenpounders. The ladyfish are a coastal-dwelling fish found throughout the tropical and subtropical regions, occasionally venturing into temperate waters.Adams, A. J., Horodysky, A. Z., McBride, R. S., Guindon, K., Shenker, J., MacDonald, T. C., Harwell, H. D., Ward, R., and Carpenter, K. Global conservation status and research needs for tarpons (Megalopidae), ladyfishes (Elopidae) and bonefishes (Albulidae). Fish and Fisheries (online, early view as of 2013). http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/faf.12017/abstract

Spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquati ...

takes place at sea, and the

fish larva Ichthyoplankton (from Greek: ἰχθύς, , "fish"; and πλαγκτός, , "drifter") are the eggs and larvae of fish. They are mostly found in the sunlit zone of the water column, less than 200 metres deep, which is sometimes called the epip ...

e migrate inland entering brackish waters. Their food is smaller fish and

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

s (

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

). Typically throughout the species, the maximum size is and the maximum weight . The body is fusiform (tapering spindle shape) and oval in cross-section; being slightly laterally compressed, and the eyes are large and partially covered with

adipose eyelid An adipose eyelid is a transparent eyelid found in some species of fish, that covers some or all of the eye. They are most commonly found on deep sea (benthic) fish, but can also be seen on non-benthic fish. Fish with this feature include milkfish ...

s. Like those of

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

s, the larvae are leptocephalic - being highly compressed, ribbon-like, and transparent. After initial growth, they shrink and then metamorphose into the adult form. This family is fished, but their bodies are bony, so these fish are not marketed widely for consumption. They are caught and used as bait or may be ground down for fish meal. The name comes from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''ellops'' - a kind of serpent.

Species

The currently recognized species in this genus are: * ''

Elops affinis The Pacific ladyfish (''Elops affinis''), also known as the Pacific tenpounder and Machete, is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Elops'', the only genus in the monotypic family Elopidae. The Pacific ladyfish can be found throughout the ...

Regan The family name Regan, along with its cognates O'Regan, O Regan, Reagan, and O'Reagan, is an Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin or Ó Ríogáin, from Ua Riagáin. The meaning is likely to have originated in ancient Gaelic ''ri'' ...

, 1909 (Pacific ladyfish) * †''

Elops bultyncki The Elopidae are a family of ray-finned fish containing a single living genus ''Elops''. They are commonly known as ladyfish, skipjacks, jack-rashes, or tenpounders. The ladyfish are a coastal-dwelling fish found throughout the tropical and subt ...

'' Nolf 2004 * ''

Elops hawaiensis The Hawaiian ladyfish (''Elops hawaiensis''), also known as the Hawaiian tenpounder or banana fish, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Elopidae. It is sometimes referred to as the giant herring, though it is not closely related to the ...

'' Regan, 1909 (Hawaiian ladyfish or giant herring) * ''

Elops lacerta The West African ladyfish (''Elops lacerate'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Elopidae. It is native to the coastal waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean, from Senegal to Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() ...

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...

, 1847 (West African ladyfish or Guinean ladyfish) * ''

Elops machnata ''Elops machnata'', the tenpounder, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Elopidae in the order Elopiformes (tarpons and tenpounders). This species is found in coastal regions of the Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-larges ...

'' ( Forsskål, 1775) (tenpounder) * †''

Elops miiformis The Elopidae are a family of ray-finned fish containing a single living genus ''Elops''. They are commonly known as ladyfish, skipjacks, jack-rashes, or tenpounders. The ladyfish are a coastal-dwelling fish found throughout the tropical and subt ...

'' Lin et al. 2016 * ''

Elops saurus The ladyfish or tenpounder (''Elops saurus'') is a species of fish in the genus ''Elops'', the only genus in the monotypic family Elopidae. Description Like other species in its genus, the ladyfish has a long, slender, rounded body covered wit ...

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, 1766 (ladyfish) * '' Elops senegalensis'' Regan, 1909 (Senegalese ladyfish) * ''

Elops smithi The malacho or Southern ladyfish, (''Elops smithi'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Elops'', the only genus in the monotypic family Elopidae. Description ''Elops smithi'' like other species in its genus, has a long, slender, ro ...

'' McBride,

Rocha Rocha may refer to: * Rocha (surname), a Portuguese surname * Rocha, Moca, Puerto Rico, a barrio in the municipality of Moca, Puerto Rico * Rocha, Rio de Janeiro, a neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil * Rocha, Uruguay, capital city of the Rocha ...

, Ruiz-Carus &

Bowen Bowen may refer to: Places Australia * Bowen, Queensland, a town * Bowen Hills, Queensland, a suburb ** Bowen Hills railway station, a railway station in Bowen Hills ** Bowen Park, Brisbane, a park in Bowen Hills * Bowen Bridge, crossing the Derw ...

, 2010 (malacho)McBride, Richard S., Rocha, Claudia R., Ruiz-Carus, Ramon, Bowen, Brian W. 2012. A new species of ladyfish, of the genus ''

'' (Elopiformes: Elopidae), from the western Atlantic Ocean. Zootaxa. 2346: 29-41. DOI: http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2010/f/zt02346p041.pdf

References

Pantropical fish Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Extant Early Cretaceous first appearances Ray-finned fish families {{Elopiformes-stub

Species

See also

References