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Finny Scad
Megalaspis cordyla, (Linnaeus, 1758)
The 50cm long Finny Scad.
Joe Smith contacted the Fish Section about a marine fish he caught near Gove, Northern Territory. The fish was one of a school and was caught on a lure. The identification was difficult over the telephone so Joe agreed to send us some photographs. With the aid of these images, the fish was easily identified as the Finny Scad, Megalaspis cordyla.
The posterior half of the body. Note the scutes on the lateral line and the finlets on the top and bottom margins of the body.
The Finny Scad is a streamlined, countershaded fish which resembles other fishes in the Family Carangidae (trevallies, scads etc). The Finny Scad can be recognised by the long pectoral fin, by the prominent scutes (51-59) on the straight part of the lateral line on the side of the body, by the large black spot on the top of the operculum (gill cover) by the dorsal (7-9) and anal (8-10) finlets, and by the adipose (fatty) eyelid which covers the pupil except a narrow vertical slit over the pupil.
The Finny Scad has a wide distribution in the Indo-Pacific and grows to 80cm in length.
Further Reading
- Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Edition 2. Crawford House Publishing. Pp. 557.
