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  • EnglishName: African pompano
  • Local Name : Naruvaa handhi
  • Size : Max. 1.3 m
  • Family: Order : Specimen
  • Distinctive Characters: Dorsal fin with 7 short spines (invisible in larger ones) followed by 1 spine and 18-22 rays. Anal fin with 2 spines (embedded in larger ones) followed by 1 spine and 18-20 rays. Gill rakers lower limb first gill arch 12-17, excluding rudiments. Anterior rays long and filamentous in juveniles. Body deep and compressed. Forehead rounded.
    Colour: Silvery, with touch of metallic blue dorsally. Juveniles with 5 dark bars on body.
  • Habitat and Biology: Adults solitary in coastal waters to depths of 100 m. Young usually pelagic and
    drifting. Feeds mainly on sedentary crustaceans.
  • Distribution: Circumtropical.
  • Remarks: The similar A. indicus also occurs in the Indian Ocean. Unlike Alectis ciliaris, A. indicus has an angular forehead, more gill rakers on lower limb of first gill arch (21-26 excluding rudiment), and is coloured silver with a green tinge dorsally.