Queenfish at Lord Howe Island

I was blown out of the water when Emma Henry emailed me this image of fish caught at Lord Howe Island.

Emma, who is a Marine Parks ranger at Lord Howe Island, was contacted by Campbell Wilson who caught the fish on hook and line.

Campbell's catch is a Lesser Queenfish, Scomberoides lysan. It was caught in the evening of August 15 at the southern end of Blinky Beach. This observation is the first time the species has been recorded from Lord Howe Island. Its previously recognised distribution within Australia was from the central coast of Western Australia, right around the tropical north and down the east coast to central New South Wales.

Randall and co-authors in their 1997 book state that the species is, "found in shallow lagoons to offshore areas from [the] surface to 100 m".

Four species of Queenfishes are known from Australian waters. Despite their superficial resemblance to Mackerels, they are in fact classified in the family Carangidae (Trevallies and Jacks). Clearly visible to the left of Campbell's left hand (click on the image to see a larger version) are two anal fin spines that are detached from the rest of the anal fin. These are one of the features of the Carangidae.

Thank you very much Emma and Campbell for your submitting the observation and thereby increasing our knowledge of Australia's fish fauna.

Reference:
Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557.