Tenpounder

Elops machnata

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth0–12 m
Water temperature17–29 °C
Best monthsFebruary, March, and October
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Robert Taylor, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Elops machnata, the tenpounder, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Elopidae in the order Elopiformes. This species is found in coastal regions of the Indian Ocean.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Elops machnata”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 4 records
February: 11 records
March: 14 records
April: 9 records
May: 9 records
June: 4 records
July: 6 records
August: 6 records
September: 3 records
October: 14 records
November: 8 records
December: 7 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–12 m · Deepest record: 12 m

0–10 m: 1 records
10–20 m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 17–29 °C

16–18 °C: 2 records
18–20 °C: 13 records
20–22 °C: 22 records
22–24 °C: 14 records
24–26 °C: 8 records
26–28 °C: 11 records
28–30 °C: 9 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Tenpounder, Banana fish, Cape Salmon, Indo-Pacific Ladyfish, Indo-Pacific Tenpounder, Lady fish, tenpounder

Names in 3 more languages

French: Grande écaille, Guinée saumon, Tarpon
Thai: ปลาตาเหลือกยาว
Simplified Chinese: 四破, 大眼海鰱, 海鰱, 瀾槽, 爛土梭, 竹梭

Other scientific names: Argentina machnata, Elops capensis, Elops indicus, Elops purpurascens

Similar species

Ladyfish
Elops saurus
Banana Fsh
Elops hawaiensis

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).
334 open-data records from 1775 to 2012.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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