Description
The orangespotted trevally has the typical body profile of the genus Carangoides, having a moderately deep, compressed oblong shape, with the dorsal profile more convex than the ventral profile. It is a moderately large fish, growing up to 53 cm in length, although more common below 40 cm. The dorsal profile of the head is quite straight from the snout to the nape, with an eye diameter smaller than the snout length. Both jaws contain narrow bands of villiform teeth, with these bands becoming wider anteriorly. The dorsal fin is in two parts, the first containing 8 spines and the second of 1 spine followed by 24 to 26 soft rays. The anal fin is similar to the second dorsal fin although slightly shorter, and consists of two anteriorly detached spines followed by 1 spine and 21 to 24 soft rays. Another of the major diagnostic features for the species is the length of the anal fin lobe in comparison to the head length, with C. bajad having a head length longer than the anal fin lobe. The lateral line has a slight, broad anterior curve, with this curved section being longer than the posterior straight section. The straight section of the lateral line has 14 to 26 scales followed by 20 to 30 scutes. The chest of the orangespotted trevally is completely scaled, occasionally having a narrow naked region on the underside near the ventral fins. There are 24 vertebrae and a total of 25 to 43 gill rakers.
The orangespotted trevally has a silvery grey to brassy coloured body, becoming paler to a silvery white ventrally. There are many conspicuous orange to yellow spots on the sides of the fish, giving the species its name, and make for an easy way to identify the fish in the field. There have been records of a variant which is entirely yellow, although it is thought the fish can rapidly change between its normal colour configuration and this entirely orange-yellow colour. The colour of the fins range from hyaline to lemon yellow, and there is no dark opercular spot.
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