Giant trevally
Caranx ignobilis
- Usual depth4–21 m
- Water temperature23–30 °C
- Best monthsSeptember
- How commonCommon
Photo credit: (c) 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi), some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
The giant trevally, also known as the lowly trevally, barrier trevally, giant kingfish, or ulua, is a species of large marine fish classified in the jack family, Carangidae. The giant trevally is distributed throughout the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific region, with a range stretching from South Africa to Hawaii, including Japan in the north and Australia in the south.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Giant trevally”, 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: 606 records
- February: 591 records
- March: 741 records
- April: 787 records
- May: 734 records
- June: 661 records
- July: 870 records
- August: 1,186 records
- September: 2,959 records
- October: 932 records
- November: 651 records
- December: 666 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 4–21 m · Deepest record: 137 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 23–30 °C
Photos
(c) Christopher Mark, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Jay Brasher, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Tyler Bishop, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Oscar Dove, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Giant trevally, Barrier Trevally, Black ulua, Forsskål's Indo-Pacific jack fish, Giant Jack, Giant trevally, Giant kingfish, giant trevally, Giant ulua, Goyan fish, GT, Horse mackerel trevally, Kingfish, Lowly Trevally, White ulua
Names in 9 more languages
- German
- Dickkopf-Makrele
- Spanish
- Jurel Gigante
- Filipino
- Malapito, Malipito, Maliputo, Maliputong laot, Mamsa, Pipikat
- French
- Carangue à grosse tête, Carangue à grosse tête, Grosse carangue, Carangue grosse tête, Carangue gros tête, Carangue grosse tête, Carangue têtue, Grosse carangue
- Indonesian
- Gapok
- Japanese
- Roninaji, Rônin-aji, ロウニンアジ
- Korean
- 무명갈전갱이
- Thai
- Sikunphueak, ปลากะมงพร้าว, สีกุนเผือก
- Simplified Chinese
- 浪人鰺, 珍鰺
Other scientific names: Carangus hippoides, Caranx ekala, Caranx ignoblis, Caranx lessonii, Caranx sansun, Scomber ignobilis, Scomber sansum, Scomber sansun
Similar species
Bluefin trevallyCaranx melampygus
Bigeye trevallyCaranx sexfasciatus
Black jackCaranx lugubris
Tille trevallyCaranx tille
Mackerel scadDecapterus macarellus
Indian scadDecapterus russelli
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).
- 9,984 open-data records from 1775 to 2023.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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