Taxonomy and Phylogeny
Alepes is a genus containing five extant and one extinct species. It is part of the jack family, Carangidae, a group of perciform fish in the suborder Percoidei. Recent phylogenetic studies using molecular information have placed Alepes in the subfamily Caranginae (or the tribe Carangini). The most comprehensive study suggests the genus is basal to all other 'scads' and 'horse mackerels' of the genera Trachurus, Decapterus, and Selar, whilst still being closely affiliated with larger members of Caranginae such as Caranx.
Alepes was first created in 1839 by the English naturalist William John Swainson, after he initially proposed it to be a subgenus of Trachinus, which he had created to accommodate Trachinus melanoptera, a species he had just described. Trachinus was invalid, however, as it was already in use for a genus of weevers. This makes A. melanoptera the type species of the genus. The other species currently placed in Alepes were not directly classified in the genus, but were transferred from other, often distantly related genera. Many of these species have numerous junior synonyms. "Alepes" comes from the Greek word alepis, 'without scales'.
A single species has been identified from the fossil record; Alepes pin, described from the Lower Miocene in eastern Crimean Oblast. This area was once part of the Indian Ocean which extended well into Europe at the time.
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