THE YELLOW TAIL FAMILY. 149 



CHAPTER VIII. 



The Yellowtail Family The Sergeant-Fishes The Mackerel Family 

 -The Barracouta Family. 



THE YELLOWTAIL FAMILY. 



(Family: Carangidt?.') 



THIS is a large and important family of carnivorous fishes, 

 containing many species of economic value, spread out over' 

 the temperate and tropical seas of the world, and nearly all 

 are voracious fishes, while a number of them are swift and 

 powerful swimmers, growing to a large size. About 150 

 species are known. They are characterised in a general way 

 by the possession of a more or less compressed often 

 greatly elevated body, which is either naked or covered 

 with small scales. 



The Yellowtail family is well-represented in Australian 

 waters, there being at least 12 species in New South Wales 

 alone. 



Amongst the Australian kinds might be mentioned, the 

 Yellowtail (Trachurus dedivis}, the King-Fish (Seriola 

 lalandi), the Trevally (Caranx gieorgianus) , the Samson- 

 Fish (Seriola hippos}, the Tailer (Pomatontus saltatrix'), 

 the well-known Pilot-Fish (Naucrates ductor) and the 

 curious Pennant-Fish (Alectis ciliaris}. 



The Yellowtail is an almost cosmopolitan fish ; being 

 distributed over nearly the whole of the seas lying within 

 the temperate and tropical zones of the northern and 

 southern hemispheres. In Great Britain, where it is abun- 

 dant, it is known commonly as the Horse Mackerel a name 

 which we in Australia apply to a member of the true 

 Mackerel family (page 160). Though the Yellowtail is very 

 abundant along a great part of the Australian coastline, and 

 is, when fresh, of good flavour, it is not used much for 

 food ; most of those caught chiefly immature fish being- 

 used as bait bv line-fishermen for the capture of larger or 



