''Scomberesox scombroides'', the king gar, is a species of

saury The saury (''Cololabis adocetus'') is a species of fish (not to be confused with the Pacific saury, another species in the genus ''Cololabis'') which is a member of the family Scomberesocidae, or the saury family. It is widespread in the Eastern P ...

, a fish in the

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 ...

Scomberesocidae Sauries are fish of the family Scomberesocidae. There are two genera, each containing two species. The name Scomberesocidae is derived from the ''scomber'', which in turn is derived from the Greek ''skombros'', meaning "mackerel", and the Latin ...

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 Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal co ...

and

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 ...

s 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 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 see ...

tail. ''Scomberesox scombroides'' is an

epipelagic The photic zone, euphotic zone, epipelagic zone, or sunlight zone is the uppermost layer of a body of water that receives sunlight, allowing phytoplankton to perform photosynthesis. It undergoes a series of physical, chemical, and biological proc ...

schooling A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

species which is found in the open sea near the surface, although it occasionally enters bays and inlets. Although the flesh is highly thought of for eating, the occurrence of large schools which can be exploited is too infrequent for the species to have any commercial importance. Its food consists mainly of small planktonic organisms. It is preyed on by larger fish such as

yellowfin tuna The yellowfin tuna (''Thunnus albacares'') is a species of tuna found in pelagic waters of tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide. Yellowfin is often marketed as ahi, from the Hawaiian language, Hawaiian , a name also used there for the closel ...

, birds such as

Cape gannet The Cape gannet (''Morus capensis'') is a large seabird of the gannet family, Sulidae. They are easily identified by their large size, black and white plumage and distinctive yellow crown and hindneck. The pale blue bill is pointed with fine ...

s and by marine mammals. They

spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: Ar ...

in warmer waters but for feeding it migrates to cool temperate, plankton-rich waters. ''Scomberesox scombroides'' was described by the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

naval surgeon A naval surgeon, or less commonly ship's doctor, is the person responsible for the health of the ship's company aboard a warship. The term appears often in reference to Royal Navy's medical personnel during the Age of Sail. Ancient uses Speciali ...

, naturalist and

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

Sir John Richardson as ''Sairis scombroides'' with the type locality given as

Dusky Bay Dusky is an English electronic music duo from London consisting of Alfie Granger-Howell and Nick Harriman.

, New Zealand.

References

{{Taxonbar, From=Q28798209 Fish described in 1843 scombroides