black snoek

Open encyclopedia reference

The blacksail snake mackerel (Thyrsitoides marleyi), also known as the black snoek, is a species of snake mackerel found in the Indo-Pacific from shallow water to a depth of at least 400 m (1,300 ft) where they appear to prefer slopes on seamounts and ridges. They are known for making diel vertical migrations to near-surface waters at night, feeding on fish, squid and crustaceans. This species reaches a total length of 2 m (6.6 ft) though most are around 1 m (3.3 ft). This species is of minor importance to local commercial fisheries.

T. marleyi is the only extant (living) member of the genus Thyrsitoides. However, two extinct species are also known: T. zarahoustrae Arambourg, 1967 from the Late Eocene Pabdeh Formation of Iran and potentially the Early Oligocene of Romania, and T. cangrandei Calzoni, Giusberti & Carnevale, 2026 from the Early Eocene Chiusole Formation of Italy.

Wikipedia contributors, Blacksail snake mackerel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:53:58.038143+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Thyrsitoides marleyi Fowler, 1929

Name authority

Fowler, 1929

Common name

black snoek

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Order

Scombriformes

Family

Gempylidae

Genus

Thyrsitoides

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · 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.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. gigaclassActinopterygii
8. superclassActinopteri
9. classTeleostei
10. orderScombriformes
11. familyGempylidae Gill, 1862
12. genusThyrsitoides Fowler, 1929
13. speciesThyrsitoides marleyi Fowler, 1929

Close classified relatives

No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.

Browse 24 records assigned to Gempylidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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.

1. Fowler, H. W. (1929). New and little-known fishes from the Natal coast. Annals of the Natal Museum, 6 (2): 245–264. 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:56TBQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.