Blacksail snake mackerel
Species of fish
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The blacksail snake mackerel (Thyrsitoides marleyi), also known 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: | |
|---|---|
| |
| 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 | |
| |
T. marleyi is the only extant (living) member of the genus Thyrsitoides.[2] However, two extinct species are also known: T. zarahoustrae Arambourg, 1967 from the Late Eocene Pabdeh Formation of Iran and potentially the Early Oligocene of Romania,[3][4] and T. cangrandei Calzoni, Giusberti & Carnevale, 2026 from the Early Eocene Chiusole Formation of Italy.[5]
