Shadow Trevally - Taxonomy and Naming

Taxonomy and Naming

The shadow trevally is classified within the genus Carangoides, one of a number of groups of fish referred to as jacks and trevallies. Carangoides is further classified in the family Carangidae, itself part of the suborder Percoidei and the order Perciformes; the perch-like fishes.

The species was first scientifically described and named by the Dutch ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker in 1851 based on a specimen collected from the waters off Jakarta, located on Java in Indonesia, which was designated to be the holotype. He named this new species Carangoides dinema, with the specific name derived from the Latin dis, meaning two and the Greek nema, meaning thread, referring to the fin anatomy of the species. This classification in Carangoides is still currently considered to be correct, although other authors have at times transferred the species to Caranx and Carangichthys. The species was independently renamed once by David Starr Jordan and Alvin Seale in 1908, who applied the name Caranx deani to the species. This later naming is considered invalid under the ICZN nomenclature rules and is rendered a junior synonym. The species is quite unique in the comparatively simple taxonomic history it has, with other related species often renamed and transferred between genera many times. The species is most commonly termed the 'shadow trevally' or 'shadow kingfish' in reference to a series of small dark blotches positioned on the upper side, underneath the second dorsal fin, giving the appearance of shadow from the fin itself. Other names used for the species include 'twothread trevally' and 'Aldabra trevally'.