Blacksail snake mackerel

The blacksail snake mackerel (Thyrsitoides marleyi), known also as the black snoek, is a species of snake mackerel found in the Indo-Pacific from shallow water to a depth of at least 400 m (1,300 ft) where they appear to prefer slopes on seamounts and ridges.^[2] They are known for making diel vertical migrations to near-surface waters at night, feeding on fish, squid and crustaceans. This species reaches a total length of 2 m (6.6 ft) though most are around 1 m (3.3 ft).^[2] This species is of minor importance to local commercial fisheries.

Blacksail snake mackerel Temporal range: Late Eocene to present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Individual caught near Vanuatu
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Scombriformes
Family:	Gempylidae
Genus:	Thyrsitoides
Species:	T. marleyi
Binomial name
Thyrsitoides marleyi Fowler, 1929
Synonyms
Mimasea taeniosoma Kamohara, 1936 Thyrsitoides jordanus Ajiad, Jafari & Mahasneh, 1987[1]

It is at the only member of the genus Thyrsitoides, making the genus monotypic.^[2] However, a second extinct species, T. zarahoustrae Arambourg, 1967, is known from the Late Eocene-aged Pabdeh Formation of Iran and potentially the Early Oligocene of Romania.^[3][4]

Individual caught near Hurghada, Egypt