Taxonomy and Naming
The blackfin scad is one of five species in the scad genus Alepes, which is one of 33 genera of the jack family, Carangidae. The Carangidae are perciform fish in the suborder Percoidei.
The species was first scientifically described by the English naturalist William John Swainson under the name of Trachinus melanoptera, placing the species in a new genus which was found to be already in use by an unrelated species of fish. The species was therefore subsequently placed in the new combination of Alepes melanoptera, becoming the type species of the new genus Alepes. After Swainson's initial description, Pieter Bleeker unknowingly redescribed the species as Selar malam, a name which was revised three times before it too was assigned to Alepes. The species was redescribed twice more by Day in 1876 and Chu and Chen in 1958. Being Swainson is the first author to correctly describe the fish, even though he initially ascribed it to the wrong genus, the ICZN recognises Alepes melanoptera as the correct name, and the rest as invalid junior synonyms. Such synonymy is common in the genus Alepes due to the abundance of similar genera. The specific name 'melanoptera' literally means 'black wing' in Greek; a reference to its distinctive colouration.
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