
Herring scad
Alepes vari
- Usual depth5–34 m
- Water temperature22–29 °C
- Best monthsMay and June
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by portioid · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
The herring scad, is a common species of tropical marine fish in the jack family Carangidae. The species inhabits the surface waters of coastal regions throughout the Indo-West Pacific region, feeding on a variety of crustaceans and small fishes. It is the largest fish of the scad genus Alepes, growing to a recorded length of 56 cm. The herring scad is identified among the genus Alepes by its more numerous and smaller scutes and the number of gill rakers on the first arch. It is of minor importance to fisheries throughout its range.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Herring scad”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 11 records
- February: 14 records
- March: 13 records
- April: 16 records
- May: 50 records
- June: 49 records
- July: 16 records
- August: 8 records
- September: 23 records
- October: 17 records
- November: 17 records
- December: 8 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 5–34 m · Deepest record: 89 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 22–29 °C
Photos

(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by portioid · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) John Witton, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Mark Clarke, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Wang.QG, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Selim Türeli, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Herring scad, herring scad, Trevally Scad
Names in 6 more languages
- Spanish
- Jurel Arenque
- Filipino
- Talakitok
- French
- Selar harengule, Sélar harengule
- Japanese
- Mabutashimaaji, マブタシマアジ
- Thai
- ปลาสีกุนรากชาย
- Simplified Chinese
- 大尾葉鰺, 大尾鰺, 范氏副葉鰺
Other scientific names: Alepes glabra, Alepes macrurus, Caranx macrurus, Caranx vari, Selar macrurus
Similar species
Shrimp scadAlepes djedaba
banded scadAlepes kleinii
- blackfin scad
Alepes melanoptera
Giant trevallyCaranx ignobilis
Bluefin trevallyCaranx melampygus
Bigeye trevallyCaranx sexfasciatus
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 201 open-data records from 1833 to 2023.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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