Common names: dolphinfish (English), dorado (Espanol)
 
Coryphaena equiselis Linnaeus, 1758

Pompano dolphinfish

Elongate compressed body; maximum height > ¼ of SL; adult  males with a bony crest on the forehead, and a near-vertical front snout profile; mouth large; numerous small teeth in bands on jaws;  patch of teeth on tongue wide and square; a long-based dorsal fin 48-55 rays extending from the nape almost to the tail fin; a long-based anal fin with convex anterior border, extending nearly to the tail fin; a large, deeply forked tail fin; no isolated finlets behind the dorsal or anal fins; pectoral fins ~ ½ head length; pelvics short, fitting into groove on the belly; small smooth scales; no hard spiny scales (scutes) on lateral line; lateral line with a sharp curve over pectorals.

Upper body bright metallic blue-green in life, grey with green reflections in death; flanks with golden reflections and numerous black spots; in juveniles tail has white border and pelvics are unpigmented.

Size: reaches 127 cm.

Habitat: an oceanic pelagic species.

Depth: 0-50 m.

A circumtropical species; southern Baja and the SW Gulf of California to Peru and the oceanic islands.