giant trevally
Caranx ignobilis (Forsskål, 1775)
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.
Giant trevally (Caranx ignobilis) Image ID: reef0735, NOAA's Coral Kingdom Collection Location: Northwest Hawaiian Islands
Dr. Dwayne Meadows, NOAA/NMFS/OPR · Public domain · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The giant trevally (Caranx ignobilis), also known as the lowly trevally, barrier trevally, giant kingfish, or ulua, is a species of large marine fish classified in the jack family, Carangidae. The giant trevally is distributed throughout the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific region, with a range stretching from South Africa to Hawaii, including Japan in the north and Australia in the south. The giant trevally is distinguished by its steep head profile, strong tail scutes, and a variety of other more detailed anatomical features. It is normally a silvery colour with occasional dark spots, but males may be black once they mature. It is the largest fish in the genus Caranx, growing to a maximum known size of 170 cm (67 in) and a weight of 80 kg (176 lb). The giant trevally inhabits a wide range of marine environments, from estuaries, shallow bays, and lagoons as a juvenile to deeper reefs, offshore atolls, and large embayments as an adult.
Wikipedia contributors, Giant trevally; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:10:28.339317+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Caranx ignobilis (Forsskål, 1775)
- Name authority
- (Forsskål, 1775)
- Common name
- giant trevally
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Carangiformes
- Family
- Carangidae
- Genus
- Caranx
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderCarangiformes
- familyCarangidae Rafinesque, 1815
- genusCaranx Lacepède, 1801
- speciesCaranx ignobilis (Forsskål, 1775)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Caranx. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| yellow jackCaranx bartholomaei Cuvier, 1833 | CarangidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pacific crevalle jackCaranx caninus Günther, 1867 | CarangidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| blacktip trevallyCaranx heberi (Bennett, 1830) | CarangidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| brassy trevallyCaranx papuensis Alleyne & MacLeay, 1877 | CarangidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| false scadCaranx rhonchus Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817 | CarangidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| tille trevallyCaranx tille Cuvier, 1833 | CarangidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| cocineroCaranx vinctus Jordan & Gilbert, 1882 | CarangidaeChordata | 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 |
|---|---|
| Carangus hippoides Jenkins, 1903 Jenkins, 1903 | synonym |
| Scomber sansum Forsskål, 1775 Forsskål, 1775 | synonym |
| Scomber sansun Forsskål, 1775 Forsskål, 1775 | synonym |
| Scomber ignobilis Forsskål, 1775 Forsskål, 1775 | synonym |
| Caranx ekala Cuvier, 1833 Cuvier, 1833 | synonym |
| Caranx ignoblis (Forsskål, 1775) (Forsskål, 1775) | synonym |
| Caranx lessonii Lesson, 1831 Lesson, 1831 | synonym |
| Caranx sansun (Forsskål, 1775) (Forsskål, 1775) | 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.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=218414 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.
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:R2QF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.