Yellowtail scad (Atule mate) is a saltwater, brackish species recorded in Malaysia. It is mainly found over reef, coral, mangrove, at depths of ≤ 80 m.
Scientific name: Atule mate · Water: Saltwater, Brackish
Size: up to 30 cm
The yellowtail scad is the single species in the genus Atule, a slender jack with a blue-green back, silvery belly, a bright yellow tail and the finlet-like extensions at the rear of the dorsal and anal fins that give it its name. Its range is the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea and the east coast of Africa to the Hawaiian Islands and Samoa, north to Japan and south to the Arafura Sea and northern Australia. It is a coastal, schooling fish of bays with mangroves and of coral reefs down to about 80 m, feeding on small fishes and crustaceans. In Malaysia it makes up a high percentage of the pelagic catch and is known as ikan selar; it is netted off Terengganu and Kelantan on the east coast and off Selangor and Perak on the west, and it is a regular catch around the mangrove bays near Pulau Ketam and Port Klang and around the islands off Penang. Boat anglers take it by jigging small metal lures or lead-heads, while shore anglers do well with a fine hook baited with prawn.
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