Description:

Dorsal spines: 7; Dorsal rays: 20-24; Anal spines: 3; Anal rays: 20-24.

Strongly compressed, ovate body. Large anteriorly positioned eye. Long lobes to second dorsal and anal fins. Caudal fin deeply forked with long lobes.

Colour. Silvery blue to greyish above, silvery white below. 1 to 6 black spots in longitudinal row along the lateral line, the spots equal to or smaller than eye. The 
number of spots typically increasing with age (spots absent in fish smaller than 15 cm). Caudal, second dorsal, and anal fins greyish to black with darker lobes. 
Pectoral fins pale yellow to brownish-yellow. Pelvic fins pale yellow to orange-yellow.

Maturity: Lm unknown. Range unknown. Max Length: 53cm TL. Commonly 35cm TL.

Coastal species found near surface waters of lagoon, seaward reefs and notably in surge zones on sandy beaches (depth 0-3m). Usually occurs in small aggregations. Feeds 
mainly upon crustaceans and small fish. They can often be seen in surge line along the sandy beaches around the central islands of Seychelles. Apparently particularly 
common at Port Launay.

This species is not protected or subject to fishery regulations. It is occasionally caught in the hand line fishery but more commonly in nets and particularly beach 
seines such as that utilised at Beau Vallon.
 

Bray, D.J. (2017). Trachinotus baillonii in Fishes of Australia, http://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2992 (21/05/19). 
Froese, R. & D. Pauly. (Eds.) (2019). FishBase. https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Trachinotus-baillonii (21/05/19).
Smith, M. & Heemstra, P. (Eds.) (1999). Smiths’ Sea Fishes Edition 6. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 10.1007/978-3-642-82858-4
Smith-Vaniz, W.F. & Williams, I. (2016). Trachinotus baillonii (errata version 2017). The IUCN Red List 2016: http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T20436473A46664139.en. (21/05/19).

Nevill, J.E.G. (2019). Trachinotus baillonii, Small spotted dart. Seychelles Seatizens. www.seatizens.sc. https://seatizens.sc/species/trachinotus-baillonii-lacepede-1801/ (edited 27/06/22).