Hawaiian Giant Herring, Elops hawaiensis Regan 1909

Other Names: Banana Fish, Banana-fish, Chiro, Giant Herring, Hawaiian Ladyfish, Ladyfish, Pincushion-fish, Tenpounder, Torres Strait Herring

Hawaiian Giant Herring, Elops hawaiensis, at Yardie Creek, North West Cape, Western Australia, June 2020. Source: Alex Hoschke / iNaturalist.org. License: CC By Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:

The Hawaiian Giant Herring is a long slender silvery fish with a single dorsal fin on the middle of the back, a forked tail, a large eye and a moderately large mouth. This schooling species lives in coastal bays, harbours and estuaries, occasionally entering freshwater.

Cite this page as:

Gomon, M.F. & Bray, D.J. 2022, Elops hawaiensis in Fishes of Australia, accessed 25 Dec 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/3294

Hawaiian Giant Herring, Elops hawaiensis Regan 1909

More Info

Distribution	Spencer Gulf, South Australia, westwards and around the tropical north to Port Phillip, Victoria. The species is an infrequent visitor to southern Australia. Elsewhere the Hawaiian Giant Herring occurs in the tropical, subtropical, east-Indo-west-central Pacific: Andaman Sea east to Hawaii and the Tuamotu Archipelago, north to southern Japan, south to Australia and New Caledonia. Inhabits coastal waters over sandy and silty substrates, including estuaries, lagoons, bays and harbours, especially around mangroves, in depths to about 40 m. Individuals move southwards with the warmer currents during summer months. Juveniles often enter the lower freshwater reaches of rivers and streams. This active swimmer commonly travels in schools in open water.
Features	Dorsal fin 17; Pectoral fin 15-16; Pelvic fin 12-13; Anal fin 14-17; Lateral line approx 100; Vertebrae 66-70; Brachiostegal rays 20-25. Body elongate, fusiform, moderately compressed; eye large; mouth large, terminal, jaws approximately equal, upper jaw extending well beyond eye; a gular plate present between arms of lower jaw; jaw teeth very small and granular. Scales very small, approximately 100 in lateral line. All fins without spines; caudal fin large and forked; pectoral fins low on side of body, near ventral outline; ventral fins abdominal, below origin of dorsal fin.
Size	To 120cm TL but commonly to 50cm.
Colour	Blue or greenish grey dorsally, silvery ventrally; fins sometimes with a faint yellow tinge.
Feeding	Feeds on small fishes and crustaceans.
Biology	Little is known of the biology of the Hawaiian Giant Herring. Sexes are separate and spawning occurs in the ocean. Both eggs and larvae are pelagic. The transparent leptocephalus larvae are long and leaf-like, with forked tails. The larvae drift into shallow coastal waters and estuaries where they develop to maturity and it is during this period when young fish may venture into coastal streams. The larval development and metamorphosis from leptocephalus larva to juvenile was described by Sato and Yasuda (1980).
Fisheries	Although not commercially fished in Australian waters, the speceis is marketed fresh, frozen, or sold as fish meal in other parts of its range. Hawaiian Giant Herring are taken by recreational fishers using trolled or cast lines baited with live shrimp or baitfish, or with a variety of lures. Although this is a popular sports fish, known for its fast strikes and leaps out of the water, it very bony and is considered to be a poor eating fish.
Conservation	IUCN: Data deficient
Similar Species	The Hawaiian Giant Herring is very similar to the Australian Giant Herring, Elops machnata, and differs in having more vertebrae (66-70 vs 60-66). Although some authors have used the structure of the upper jaw teeth to distinguish the two species, this character changes with growth. The Australian Giant Herring has only been recorded from Albany, WA.
Etymology	Elops is from the Greek ellops, meaning a kind of serpent, in reference to the long, slender body.
Species Citation	Elops hawaiensis Regan 1909, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (8)3(7): 35 Type locality: Hawaiian Islands.
Author	Gomon, M.F. & Bray, D.J. 2022
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Hawaiian Giant Herring, Elops hawaiensis Regan 1909

References

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