Cleftbelly trevally
| Cleftbelly trevally | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Carangidae |
| Genus: |
Atropus Oken, 1817 |
| Species: | A. atropos |
| Binomial name | |
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Atropus atropos (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) |
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| Approximate range of the cleftbelly trevally | |
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The cleftbelly trevally (Atropus atropos) (also known as the cleftbelly kingfish, Kuweh trevally and thin crevalle) is a species of tropical marine fish of the jack family, Carangidae. The species inhabits coastal waters throughout the Indo-West Pacific region from South Africa in the west to Japan in the east, often found near the water's surface. The cleftbelly trevally is the only member of the genus Atropus and is distinguished by a number of anatomical characteristics, with a deep median groove in the belly giving the species its common name. It is not a large fish, growing to a maximum recorded length of 26.5 cm. Cleftbelly trevally are predatory fish, taking a variety of small crustaceans and fish. The species is of minor importance to fisheries throughout its range.
The cleftbelly trevally is the only species in the genus Atropus, which is one of 31 genera in the jack family, Carangidae. The carangids are Perciform fishes in the suborder Percoidei.
The species was first scientifically described under the name of Brama atropos by German ichthyologists Marcus Elieser Bloch and Johann Gottlob Schneider in the massive 1801 volume of Systema Ichthyologiae iconibus cx illustratum, a document which is the taxonomic authority for many species. Bloch and Schneider placed the species in the genus Brama, within the pomfret family. The generic position of the species was revised twice, once being placed in the jack genus, Caranx, and finally into Atropus. The genus Atropus had been informally created by Georges Cuvier in 1817 as "Les Atropus", and was formally Latinized by Lorenz Oken, thus making him the author of the genus.A. atropos is the type species of the genus by monotypy. The type specimen was taken from the waters of Puducherry, in India.
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