JACKS
CARANGIDAE
Round Scad
Decapterus punctatus
    Ecological Descriptors
Habitat Size (cm) Diet Behaviour Sex 
Pel 36 Pla Sh F
 
 
Description:
Bluish green on back, silver below, with a narrow bronze or olive stripe from snout tip to tail base. Narrow caudal peduncle (helps distinguish all Scads from various Herrings etc)
Deeply forked tail. Usually has a small black blotch on top corner of operculum. membrane at front of roof of mouth clear to grey. Has a row of small black spots along curved part of lateral line. Caudal fin amber, or dusky.

Ecology
A shoaling fish found from 0-110m (0 to 340ft) in neritic (near coast) waters, often near sandy beaches. Feeds on planktonic invertebrates, primarily copepods, but also on gastropod larvae, ostracods and pteropods.

Life Cycle:
Spawning occurs well offshore year-round. Eggs are pelagic.

Round Scad
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