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Author: Linnaeus, 1758

Coryphaena equiselis Linnaeus, 1758

Diagnosis: greatest body depth in adults more than 25% of SL; young fish (up to 30 cm) have head profile slightly convex. Tooth patch on tongue broad and trapezoidal. Dorsal finrays 52-59; a convex anal fin, extending from anus almost to caudal fin; pectoral fins about half of head length. Lateral line scales 200 or fewer. Vertebrae 33. Colour: juveniles with entire margin of caudal fin unpigmented; pelvic fins unpigmented. Size: to 75 cm SL, common to 50 cm.

Habitat: pelagic, inhabiting open waters but also approaching the coast. Behaviour: probably resembles C. hippurus in following ships and concentrating below floating objects. Food: small epipelagic fishes, crustaceans and squids. Reproduction: pelagic eggs and larvae.

Distribution: in the Mediterranean and from the Azores and Madeira southwards. Elsewhere, worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas; range not exactly known because sometimes confused with C. hippurus.

Eggs, larvae and young stages. Lütken, 1880b: 483, 597, pl. 3 (fig. 9-11) | Padoa, 1956a: 534, fig. 374 | Gibbs & Collette, 1959: 117, fig. 1-2C-D.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.

Pompano dolphin (Coryphaena equiselis)