Cybiosarda elegans (Whitley 1935)

This species is distinguished by the following characters: body moderately short and deep, strongly compressed; mouth moderately large with upper jaw reaching to hind margin of eye; 2 tooth patches on upper surface of tongue; 13-22 large, conical teeth on upper jaw, 10-17 on lower jaw; 12-15 total gill rakers on first gill arch; l28-33 laminae of olfactory rosette; interorbital width 23.9 to 31% of head length; D1 XVI-XVIII,17-19, dorsal fins close together, the first high anteriorly, soft rays followed by 8-10 finlets; A 15-17 followed by 6-7 finlets; pectoral fins short with 22-24 rays; interpelvic process small and bifid; body mostly naked behind the well-developed corselet except for a band of scales along bases of dorsal and anal fins and patches of scales around bases of the pectoral and pelvic fins; caudal peduncle slender, with a well-developed lateral keel between 2 smaller keels on each side; no swimbladder, spleen not visible in ventral view, concealed under liver; liver with an elongate right lobe and a short left lobe which tends to fuse with the middle lobe; vertebrae 22-24 + 23-26 = 47-48. Colour of belly light with several stripes reminiscent of those of the skipjack tuna, Katsuwonus pelamis; back deep blue covered with elongate black spots; first dorsal fin jet black anteriorly, white in the few last posterior membranes; anal and second dorsal fins yellow (Ref. 9684).

Oceanodromous. Migrating within oceans typically between spawning and different feeding areas, as tunas do. Migrations should be cyclical and predictable and cover more than 100 km.

Dorsal spines (total): 16 - 18; Dorsal soft rays (total): 17 - 19; Analspines: 0; Analsoft rays: 15 - 17; Vertebrae: 47 - 48

An epipelagic, neritic species that forms schools of several hundred individuals. Taken as bait for snappers by commercial fishers, and for marlins and sharks by sport fishers. Its meat is white and dry and is good when smoked or served steamed with moderately flavored white sauce.

fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes; bait: usually; price category: very high; price reliability: very questionable: based on ex-vessel price for species in this family