Gempylidae

6 species

The Gempylidae are a family of perciform fishes commonly known as snake mackerels or escolars. The family includes about 25 species.

They are elongated fishes with a similar appearance to barracudas, having a long dorsal fin, usually with one or finlets trailing it. The largest species, including the snoek (Thyrsites atun), grow up to 2 m long, and the oilfish (Ruvettus pretiosus) can reach 3 m, though they rarely surpass 150 cm. Like the barracudas, they are predators, with fang-like teeth.

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The Gempylidae are a family of perciform fishes commonly known as snake mackerels or escolars. The family includes about 25 species.

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Escolar

Lepidocybium flavobrunneum

The escolar, Lepidocybium flavobrunneum, a species of fish in the family Gempylidae, is found in deep (200–885 metres, or 656–2,904 ft) tropical and temperate waters around the world. It is also known as snake mackerel, walu walu (Hawaiian,...

Oilfish

Ruvettus pretiosus

Oilfish (Ruvettus pretiosus) are a species of snake mackerel with a cosmopolitan distribution in tropical and temperate oceans. They can be found at depths from 100 to 800 metres (330 to 2,620 ft), but most often between 200 and 400 metres (660 and...

Thyrsites

Thyrsites atun

Thyrsites atun (Euphrasén, 1791), known as the snoek in South Africa and as the barracouta in Australasia, is a long, thin species of snake mackerel found in the seas of the Southern Hemisphere, and a popular food fish in South Africa, particularly...

Snake mackerel

Gempylus serpens

The snake mackerel (Gempylus serpens) is the sole species of fish in the monotypic genus Gempylus, belonging to the family Gempylidae (which is also referred to generally as "snake mackerels"). It is found worldwide in tropical and subtropical...

Silver gemfish

Rexea solandri

Rexea solandri, the silver gemfish, is a species of snake mackerel found in the southwestern Pacific Ocean around Australia and New Zealand with reports of possible records from Madagascar and Japan. Gemfish appear as infrequent, but regular bycatch...

Blacksail snake mackerel

Thyrsitoides marleyi

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...