Mene maculata

Mene maculata on offer in a supermarket in the Philippines.

Mene maculata ( " maculatus " spotted = ) is a marine fish that occurs in the Indo-Pacific from the east coast of Africa to the southern Japan, the Arafura Sea and the north-eastern Australia.

Features

The fish generally reach a body length of 20 cm, the maximum they are 30 cm long. Your body is laterally strongly flattened and disc- shaped, with a slightly curved back profile, a wide overhanging belly profile and a sharp chest. The standard length is 1.3 - to 1.5 - times the body height. On the back side, they are dark blue, sides and belly are silvery. Above and below the lateral line, which runs parallel to the line of the back near the top, two or three rows of dark spots found. The end of the lateral line is below the end of the dorsal fin. The upper jaw is protaktil ( vorstreckbar ). Both jaws are studded with rows of small, slender teeth. The palate is toothless. The gills Reuse rays are well developed. Six can be found on the top and 23 on the lower branch of the first gill arch.

• Fins formula: Dorsal 43-46; Anal 30-33, pectoral 15

Dorsal and anal fins are long and low. When the first dorsal fin fin rays are slightly increased. The first 3 to 10 are unbranched and thorn -like in young fish. The rays of the anal fin are overgrown in adult fish with the skin, so that only their branched spikes are seen. The first two rays of the ventral fins have grown together and greatly extended in adult fish. The pectoral fins are shorter than the head. The caudal fin is forked. Because of the tiny scales of the fish is apparently without scales.

Way of life

Mene maculata lives offshore in deeper zones ( 50 to 200 m), especially at coral reefs, over the continental shelf and around larger islands and sometimes also examined estuaries on. The fish feed on small, ground-dwelling invertebrate animals.

Use

Mene maculata is considered an excellent food fish is caught with trawls and marketed fresh or dried.