False trevally

Not to be confused with the milk-cap mushroom genus Lactarius.

The false trevally (Lactarius lactarius) is a species of carangiform ray-finned fish in the family Lactariidae, currently the sole member of the family.^[3]

False trevally Temporal range: Eocene–recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Lactarius lactarius
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Carangiformes
Suborder:	Centropomoidei
Family:	Lactariidae Boulenger, 1904 [1]
Genus:	Lactarius Valenciennes, 1833[2]
Species:	L. lactarius
Binomial name
Lactarius lactarius (Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801)
Synonyms
Genus: Platylepes Swainson, 1839 Species: Scomber lactarius Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801 Lactarius delicatulus Valenciennes, 1833 Lactarius burmanicus Lloyd, 1907

Distribution

The false trevally is native to the Indian Ocean and from East Africa to Southeast Asia, and in the western Pacific Ocean from Japan to Queensland, Australia. It is a coastal species, occurring in marine and brackish waters at depths of from 15 to 100 m (49 to 328 ft). It is an important species to local commercial fisheries.^[3]

Description

This fish is colored silvery-grey on the upper parts with blue iridescence dorsally and a dusky black spot on the upper gill cover. The underparts are colored silvery-white. The fins are pale yellow. This species can reach a length of 40 cm (16 in), though most do not exceed 30 cm (12 in).^[3]

Gallery

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  False trevallies in Visakhapatnam Landing Center, Andhra Pradesh, India
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  Close-up of False trevallies in Visakhapatnam Landing Center
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  False trevally illustration