Elops saurus, Linnaeus, 1766
The ladyfish or tenpounder (Elops saurus) is a species of fish in the genus Elops, the only genus in the monotypic family Elopidae.
Like other species in its genus, the ladyfish has a long, slender, rounded body covered with silvery scales. Its mouth is terminal and the tail is deeply forked. The species can be distinguished by counting the number of gill rakers and vertebrae.
The ladyfish is distributed in the western North Atlantic Ocean from New England to Florida, and the Gulf of Mexico. Its distribution overlaps with the malacho (Elops smithi) in the southeast US and the southern Gulf of Mexico.
This species uses estuarine areas and hypersaline lagoons; changes in the quality of these habitats may affect this species' population dynamics. Although this species may not be closely associated with any single habitat, it may be adversely affected by development and urbanization.
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