Alectis ciliaris

9.9

A large fish like a jack with long front fin rays found in warm seas often called the African pompano

noun

Specialized

: Alectis ciliaris

Juvenile Alectis ciliaris have long, trailing fin filaments that shorten as they mature.

Examples

The Alectis ciliaris is prized by sport fishers for its striking appearance and vigorous fight.
Marine biologists observed a school of Alectis ciliaris near the coral reef.
Look at that Alectis ciliaris!
The Alectis ciliaris is a fascinating species of fish.
Marine biologists observed a school of Alectis ciliaris near the coral reef.
Juvenile Alectis ciliaris have long, trailing fin filaments that shorten as they mature.
The Alectis ciliaris is prized by sport fishers for its striking appearance and vigorous fight.

Synonyms

threadfish

vsAlectis ciliaris

Specialized

9.9

A fish with very long, thin parts on its fins that lives in warm waters

refers specifically to the large jack-family species with those fins

thread-fish

vsAlectis ciliaris

Specialized

9.9

A fish with very long front fin rays that lives near warm coasts

is written the same but the modern form drops the hyphen

Surface Forms

Alectis ciliaris singular

Alectis ciliarises plural

Morphology

Alectis + ciliaris

This is a Latin binomial species name serving as an arbitrary taxonomic label rather than a compositional English phrase. Even if a learner knew the parts, they would not be able to derive the meaning ‘large jack-family fish (African pompano) with elongated fin rays’ from the constituents, and one constituent is not a standard English word, so the expression is not predictable to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Alectis ciliaris is a fish name that points to its long, hair-like fin rays. The second part, ciliaris, comes from a word for 'eyelash', and because young fish have long trailing filaments that look like eyelashes, the name helps you remember the fish by its striking fins.