Shrimp Scad - Taxonomy and Naming

Taxonomy and Naming

The shrimp scad is one of five species of fish in the scad genus Alepes, which itself is one of thirty genera in the jack family Carangidae. The Carangidae are Perciform fishes in the suborder Percoidei. A molecular phylogenetic study has confirmed the genus Alepes is supported, at least between A. djedaba and A. kleinii which are closely related.

The shrimp scad was first scientifically described by Swedish naturalist Peter Forsskål from a specimen collected in the Red Sea in 1775, which was designated to be the holotype. He named the species Scomber djedaba, placing it in the mackerel genus, a common practice with carangids at the time, as the family Carangidae was yet to be erected. A number of taxonomists have since tried to reclassify the species in a more parsimonious genus, with a number of carangid genera proposed including Selar, Caranx and Atule. To add to the confusion over the species, the species was redescribed twice after the first naming, once by Cuvier who named it Caranx kalla, and once by Fowler who proposed Caranx microbrachium for the species. Caranx kalla was subsequently placed in the genus Atule, but is now considered, along with Caranx microbrachium to be a junior synonym, unacceptable under the ICZN rules and has been discarded. The currently accepted name of Alepes djedaba was proposed by Gushiken in an extensive review of the carangidae of Japan, identifying a number of morphological features associating it with Alepes. Due to the awkward species name, the species is often misspelt as djeddaba in the literature.