Giant Oystercracker, Trachinotus anak Ogilby 1909
Other Names: Giant Oystercracker Dart, Indo-Pacific Permit, Oyster Pompano, Oyster-eater, Oyster-eater Dart
A Giant Oystercracker, Trachinotus anak, off Townsville, Queensland, July 2020. Source: @kopper / iNaturalist.org. License: CC By Attribution-NonCommercial
Summary:
A large silvery green to bluish-grey pompano, with silvery sides becoming white below, sometimes with a bronze or greenish-golden tinge. The second dorsal and caudal fins are dusky orange to almost black, with darker leading edges and fin tips, the anal fin is a bright to brownish-yellow (without a dark leading edge), the pelvic fins are pale to bright yellow, and the pectoral fins are dark.
Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2022, Trachinotus anak in Fishes of Australia, accessed 13 Sep 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/1664
Giant Oystercracker, Trachinotus anak Ogilby 1909
More Info
Distribution |
Darwin, Northern Territory, to Moreton Bay, Queensland. Elsewhere the species occurs in the west Pacific: Taiwan, New Caledonia and New Zealand. Inhabits shallow coastal waters including estuaries and sand flats. |
Features |
Dorsal fin VI, I + 19; Anal fin II, I + 17; Pectoral fin i + 18; Gill rakers 6 + 10; Vertebrae 10 +14. Body compressed, oval in young to suboval in large adults; snout broadly rounded (humped); upper jaw reaching to below the middle of eye. Lateral line weakly convex above pectoral fins, becoming straight posteriorly. Scutes and caudal-peduncle grooves absent. Dorsal and anal fin lobes relatively short, |
Size |
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Feeding |
Feeds mostly on hard shelled benthic invertebrates, including molluscs such as oysters, and crabs. |
Fisheries |
Taken by recreational fishers, and as bycatch in commercial fisheries. |
Remarks |
Little is known about the biology and ecology of this species. |
Similar Species |
The similar Snubnose Dart, Trachinotus blochii, has longer dorsal and anal-fin lobes in adults with a black leading edge, and a black margin on the caudal-fin lobes. |
Etymology |
The species is presumably named after the Hebrew Anak people and members of the Anakim or Anakites - giant people mentioned briefly in the Old Testament - in reference to the large size attained by this species. |
Species Citation |
Trachinotus anak Ogilby 1909, Report of the Marine Department Queensland (1908-1909) Appendix 5:19. Type locality: deep water off Moreton Bay and Great Sandy Strait, Queensland |
Author |
Bray, D.J. 2022 |
Resources |
Giant Oystercracker, Trachinotus anak Ogilby 1909
References
Grant, E.M. 1975. Guide to Fishes. Brisbane : Queensland Government, Co-ordinator General’s Department 640 pp.
Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3)
Larson, H.K. & Williams, R.S. 1997. Darwin Harbour fishes: a survey and annotated checklist. pp. 339-380 in Hanley, H.R., Caswell, G., Megirian, D. & Larson, H.K. (eds). The Marine Flora and Fauna of Darwin Harbour, Northern Territory, Australia. Proceedings of the Sixth International Marine Biology Workshop. Darwin : Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory 466 pp.
Larson, H.K., Williams, R.S. & Hammer, M.P. 2013. An annotated checklist of the fishes of the Northern Territory, Australia. Zootaxa 3696(1): 1-293
Lin, P.-L. & Shao, K.-T. 1999. A review of the carangid fishes (Family Carangidae) from Taiwan with descriptions of four new records. Zoological Studies 38(1): 33-68.
Munro, I.S.R. 1961. Handbook of Australian fishes. Nos 1–42. Australian Fisheries Newsletter 15–17, 19, 20: 1-172 [published as separates 1956–1961]
Ogilby, J.D. 1909. Report on a large fish destructive to oysters. Report of the Marine Department of Queensland (1908–1909) Appendix 5: 19-21
Smith, G.S. 1981. Southern Queensland's oyster industry.
Smith-Vaniz, W.F. 1999. Family Carangidae. pp. 2659-2756 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 4 pp. 2069-2790.
Smith-Vaniz, W.F. & Walsh, S.J. 2019. Indo-West Pacific species of Trachinotus with spots on their sides as adults, with description of a new species endemic to the Marquesas Islands (Teleostei: Carangidae). Zootaxa 4651(1): 1-37. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4651.1.1
Smith-Vaniz, W.F. & Williams, I. 2016. Trachinotus anak (errata version published in 2017). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T20436452A115383762. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T20436452A67871535.en. Downloaded on 21 June 2021.
Yearsley, G.K., Last, P.R. & Ward, R.D. (eds) 1999. Australian Seafood Handbook. Hobart : CSIRO Marine Research 460 pp.