Elops lacerta Valenciennes, 1847
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The West African ladyfish (Elops lacerate) is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Elopidae. It is native to the coastal waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean, from Senegal to Angola. It is also known as the Guinean ladyfish. Some have been known to grow to 20 lb (9.1 kg).
Wikipedia contributors, West African ladyfish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:35:04.043714+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Elops lacerta Valenciennes, 1847
- Name authority
- Valenciennes, 1847
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Elopiformes
- Family
- Elopidae
- Genus
- Elops
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderElopiformes
- familyElopidae Valenciennes, 1847
- genusElops Linnaeus, 1766
- speciesElops lacerta Valenciennes, 1847
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Elops. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Elops hawaiensis Regan, 1909 | ElopidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Elops senegalensis Regan, 1909 | ElopidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| ladyfishElops saurus Linnaeus, 1766 | ElopidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| tenpounderElops machnata (Forsskål, 1775) | ElopidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| ladyfishElops smithi McBride, Rocha, Ruiz-Carus & Bowen, 2010 | ElopidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Elops congicus Boulenger, 1898 Boulenger, 1898 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Cuvier, G., & Valenciennes, A. (1847). Histoire naturelle des poissons. Tome dix-neuvième. Suite du livre dix-neuvième. Brochets ou Lucioïdes. Livre vingtième. De quelques familles de Malacoptérygiens, intermédiaires entre les Brochets et les Clupes. 19: i–xix + 1–544 + 6 pp. Pls. 554–590. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:39CJ8. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.