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

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 of the jack family, Carangidae. The species is widespread throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of the world, inhabiting both coastal 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 amberjacks. 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 planktonic crustaceans. The species reaches sexual maturity around , and spawning 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, 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- and shark-fishing operations and marketed.

Taxonomy and naming

The rainbow runner is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Elagatis'', which is one of 30 genera in the jack family, the Carangidae. The Carangidae are perciform fishes in the suborder Percoidei. The species was first scientifically described in 1825 by

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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, subsequent ...

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

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. They named the species '' Seriola 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 ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

. In 1840, Frederick Debell Bennett 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 Cell (biology), cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and Fungus, fungi. Mitochondria have a double lipid bilayer, membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosi ...

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

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s, with the most common English 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