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

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or w ...

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% ...

of the jack family,

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

. The species is widespread throughout the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

and subtropical waters of the world, inhabiting both

coastal The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

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 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 often found in th ...

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 class Cephalopoda ( Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, ...

s, and a wide variety of

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a cr ...

crustaceans Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean gr ...

. The species reaches

sexual maturity Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce. In humans it might be considered synonymous with adulthood, but here puberty is the name for the process of biological sexual maturation, while adulthood is based on cultural definit ...

around , and

spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aqua ...

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 pursued by recreational anglers, and can be freshwater or saltwater fish. Game fish can be eaten after being caught, or released after capture. Some game fish are also targeted commercia ...

, 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 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 bullet tuna (max le ...

- and

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...

-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 "unispec ...

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

perciform Perciformes (), also called the Percomorpha or Acanthopteri, is an order or superorder of ray-finned fish. If considered a single order, they are the most numerous order of vertebrates, containing about 41% of all bony fish. Perciformes means " ...

fishes in the suborder

Percoidei Percoidei is one of 3 suborders of bony fishes in the order Perciformes. Many commercially harvested fish species are considered to be contained in this suborder, including the snappers, groupers, basses, goatfishes and perches. Divisions Th ...

. The species was first

scientifically described A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...

in 1825 by

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

zoologists

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

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, subsequ ...

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

Malay Archipelago The Malay Archipelago (Indonesian/ Malay: , tgl, Kapuluang Malay) is the archipelago between mainland Indochina and Australia. It has also been called the " Malay world," " Nusantara", "East Indies", Indo-Australian Archipelago, Spices Arch ...

. 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. 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 182, 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 mitochondrial

cytochrome b Cytochrome b within both molecular and cell biology, is a protein found in the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells. It functions as part of the electron transport chain and is the main subunit of transmembrane cytochrome bc1 and b6f complexes. ...

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 contra ...

s, with the most common

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

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