The rainbow runner (''Elagatis bipinnulata''), also known as the rainbow yellowtail, Spanish jack and Hawaiian salmon, is a common

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the sur ...

marine

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

of the jack family,

Carangidae The Carangidae are a family of ray-finned fish that includes the jacks, pompanos, jack mackerels, runners, trevallies, and scads. It is the largest of the six families included within the order Carangiformes. Some authorities classify it as the ...

. The species is widespread throughout the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and subtropical waters of the world, inhabiting both

coastal A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

and offshore areas. The species is the only member of the genus ''Elagatis'', which was created 15 years after its initial description, and is closely related to the

amberjack Amberjacks are Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, Pacific fish in the genus ''Seriola'' of the family Carangidae. They are widely consumed across the world in various cultures, most notably for Pacific amberjacks in Japanese cuisine; they are most oft ...

s. The rainbow runner is easily distinguished by its body shape, and the brilliant colouration which gives the fish its name. It is a fast-swimming predator, taking small fish,

cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan Taxonomic rank, class Cephalopoda (Greek language, Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral symm ...

s, and a wide variety of

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

crustaceans Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of Arthropod, arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquat ...

. The species reaches

sexual maturity Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce. In humans, it is related to both puberty and adulthood. ''Puberty'' is the biological process of sexual maturation, while ''adulthood'', the condition of being socially recognized ...

around , and

spawning Spawn is the Egg cell, eggs and Spermatozoa, sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of freely releasing eggs and sperm into a body of water (fresh or marine); the physical act is ...

takes place at different times, with some populations spawning year round, while others only spawn at certain times of the year. The species is a well known

game fish Game fish, sport fish or quarry refer to popular fish species pursued by recreational fishing, recreational fishers (typically angling, anglers), and can be freshwater fish, freshwater or saltwater fish. Game fish can be fish as food, eaten aft ...

, taken by a variety of fishing methods, and is a well-regarded table fish. Large numbers of the species are taken as bycatch in

tuna A tuna (: tunas or tuna) is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bul ...

- and

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

-fishing operations and marketed.

Taxonomy and naming

The rainbow runner is the only species in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus ''Elagatis'', which is one of 30 genera in the jack family, the Carangidae. The Carangidae are

perciform Perciformes (), also called the Acanthopteri, is an order or superorder of ray-finned fish in the clade Percomorpha. ''Perciformes'' means "perch-like". Among the well-known members of this group are perches and darters (Percidae), and also sea ...

fishes in the suborder

Percoidei Percoidei is a suborder of bony fishes in the order Perciformes. Many commercially harvested fish species are considered to be contained in this suborder, including the groupers, Serranidae, seabasses and perches. Divisions The following classif ...

. The species was first

scientifically described A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it diffe ...

in 1825 by

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

zoologists

Jean René Constant Quoy Jean René Constant Quoy (10 November 1790 in Maillé, Vendée, Maillé – 4 July 1869 in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, Rochefort) was a French naval surgeon, zoologist and anatomist. In 1806, he began his medical studies at the school of naval ...

and

Joseph Paul Gaimard Joseph Paul Gaimard (31 January 1793 – 10 December 1858) was a French naval surgeon and naturalist. Biography Gaimard was born at Saint-Zacharie on January 31, 1793. He studied medicine at the naval medical school in Toulon, subsequen ...

based on the type specimen collected from the Indian Ocean, somewhere in the

Malay Archipelago The Malay Archipelago is the archipelago between Mainland Southeast Asia and Australia, and is also called Insulindia or the Indo-Australian Archipelago. The name was taken from the 19th-century European concept of a Malay race, later based ...

. They named the species ''

Seriola ''Seriola'' is a genus of ray-finned fish, with many species commonly known as amberjacks. Nine extant species are currently recognized, although these were formerly split into many more. Also, several species are currently placed in several oth ...

bipinnulata'', believing the species was related to the amberjacks. This was later revised to the genus ''Seriolichthys'' by Bleeker before the species was found to warrant a new genus. The genus ''Micropteryx'' was initially created, but was already in use in the

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

. In 1840,

Frederick Debell Bennett Frederick Debell Bennett (1806–1859) was an English ship surgeon and biologist. Born to a family of means in Devon, England, in 1806, he obtained his Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries (L.S.A.) in 1828, and his membership of the Royal Coll ...

created the genus ''Elagatis'', taken from a name published in a whaling voyage memoir, which he used in combination with the specific name ''bipinnulatus'', which was deemed to be incorrect, as the genus name is feminine and the original spelling of ''bipinnulata'' was reinstated. Phylogenetically, the species is most closely related to the amberjack genus, ''Seriola'', being the most basal member identified of the carangid tribe Naucratini. This has been determined by the sequencing of the

mitochondria A mitochondrion () is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is us ...

cytochrome b Cytochrome b is a protein found in the membranes of aerobic cells. In eukaryotic mitochondria (inner membrane) and in aerobic prokaryotes, cytochrome b is a component of respiratory chain complex III () — also known as the bc1 complex or ubiq ...

genome, as well as older morphological studies. The species' wide range has led to a wide array of local

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

s, with the most common

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

name being rainbow runner in reference to its colouring. Other names frequently applied include rainbow yellowtail, Hawaiian salmon, salmon (incorrectly), Spanish jack, ''salmon del alto'' (Cuba), and over 20 other names in various languages.

Description

The rainbow runner's body is atypical of the jack family, which generally have deep, compressed bodies. The rainbow runner has a

subcylindrical {{Short pages monitor Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish of the Indian Ocean Fish of the Pacific Ocean Taxa named by Jean René Constant Quoy Taxa named by Joseph Paul Gaimard Fish described in 1825