malacho

Elops smithi like other species in its genus, has a long, slender, round body covered with silvery scales. The mouth is terminal and the tail is deeply forked. Identification of all seven Elops species requires counting the number of gillrakers and vertebrae.

Elops smithi is distributed in the western South Atlantic Ocean from as far south as Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to the Caribbean Sea, Bahamas, and the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. Leptocephali and juveniles are also collected along the eastern seaboard of North America, the northern and eastern Gulf of Mexico, and Bermuda, but these represent waifs or vagrants, and do not support a population of adults. Its distribution overlaps with the ladyfish (Elops saurus) in the southeast US and the southern Gulf of Mexico.