''Scomberoides commersonnianus'', the Talang queenfish, also known as giant dart, giant leatherskin, giant queenfish, largemouth queenfish, leatherjacket, leatherskin, and Talang leatherskin, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Carangidae from the western

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 ...

. It is a large species which is important in commercial and recreational fisheries.

Description

''Scomberoides commersonnianus'' has a single row of 5-6 large dark silvery spots or blotches running along the flanks over 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 ...

. It does not have a dark tip on the dorsal fin lobe. The snout is rather blunt and the large mouth has several rows of very sharp teeth. 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 ...

and the dorsal fin are truncated with the posterior part of each fin reduced to spines. The caudal fin is strongly forked. The head and back is bluish grey while the ventral side of the body is silvery. It grows to a maximum Total Length of but is more commonly and the maximum published weight is .

Distribution

''Scomberoides commersonnianus'' has a wide distribution in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean occurring from South Africa and the Red Sea and Persian Gulf in the west, east through Indonesia and Papua New Guinea as far as

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

, north to southern Japan and south to Western Australia and New South Wales.

Habitat and biology

The adults of ''Scomberoides commersonianus'' are found in coastal waters, and frequently occur in the vicinity of reefs and offshore islands. They occasionally enter into estuarine waters. It is normally found in small schools. The adults are predatory, feeding on fishes, cephalopods, small invertebrates and other pelagic prey. The juveniles use their rasping teeth to feed on the scales and

epidermis The epidermis is the outermost of the three layers that comprise the skin, the inner layers being the dermis and hypodermis. The epidermis layer provides a barrier to infection from environmental pathogens and regulates the amount of water rele ...

of other fishes. They grow rapidly during earlier life, but slow down. They reach 25 cm in their first year, and 50 by their third year. The females attain sexual maturity when they reach a fork length of at around 4–5 years old. In Australia spawning occurs from August to March. In the Persian Gulf spawning occurs between March and June. The fecundity of females when mature was estimated at 259,488–2,859,935 eggs in each spawning.

Relationship to humans

The Talang queenfish is an important commercial and recreational species throughout much of its range. The IGFA maintains full line and tippet class records for the Talang queenfish. The all tackle world record stands at 17.89 kg (39 lb 7oz) caught off of Umkomaas, South Africa in 2010.

Taxonomy

''Scomberoides commersonnianus'' was formally described by the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

zoologist

Bernard Germain de Lacépède Bernard-Germain-Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon, comte de Lacépède or La Cépède (; 26 December 17566 October 1825) was a French naturalist and an active freemason. He is known for his contribution to the Comte de Buffon's great work, the ...

with the

type locality Type locality may refer to: * Type locality (biology) * Type locality (geology) See also * Local (disambiguation) * Locality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

given as Fort Dauphin in the Toliara Province of Madagascar. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

uses the Latin suffix ''ianus'' meaning "belonging to" and adds this to the surname of the French naturalist Philibert Commerçon, this also being spelled as Commerson, (1727-1773), whose notes and illustration were used by Lacépède as the base for his description of the species.

References

External links

IGFA records page
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2163706 commersonnianus Taxa named by Bernard Germain de Lacépède Fish described in 1801