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Threadfins are silvery grey perciform marine fish of the family Polynemidae. Found in tropical to subtropical waters throughout the world, the threadfin family contains nine genera and 33 species. An unrelated species sometimes known by the name threadfin, Alectis indicus, is properly known as the Indian threadfish (family Carangidae).

Ranging in length from 20 centimetres in the black-finned threadfin (Polydactylus nigripinnis) to 200 centimetres in fourfinger threadfin s (Eleutheronema tetradactylum) and giant African threadfin s (Polydactylus quadrifilis), threadfins are both important to commercial fisheries as a food fish, and popular among anglers. Their habit of forming large schools makes the threadfins a reliable and economic catch.

Their bodies are elongate and fusiform, with spinous and soft dorsal fins widely separate. Their tail fins are large and deeply forked; this is an indication of their speed and agility. The mouth is large and inferior; a blunt snout projects far ahead. The jaws and palate possess bands of villiform (fibrous) teeth. The most distinguishing feature of the threadfins are their pectoral fins: they are composed of two distinct sections, the lower of which consisting of between 3-7 long, thread-like independent rays. In Polynemus species there may be up to 15 of these modified rays.

In some species, such as the royal threadfin (Pentanemus quinquarius), the thread-like rays may extent well past the tail fin. This feature explains both the common name threadfin and the family name Polynemidae, from the Greek poly meaning "many" and nema meaning "filament." Similar species, such as the mullets (family Mugilidae) and milkfish (family Chanidae) can be easily distinguished from threadfins by their lack of filamentous pectoral rays.

Threadfins frequent open, shallow water in areas with muddy, sandy or silty bottoms; they are rarely glimpsed at reefs. Their filamentous pectoral rays are thought to serve as tactile structures, helping the fish to find prey within the sediments. Noted for being euryhaline , threadfins are able to tolerate a wide range of salinity levels. This attribute allows threadfins to enter estuaries and even riverMurray River in Australia Australia A river is a large natural waterway. It is a specific term in the vernacular for large streams, stream being the umbrella term used in the scientific community for all flowing natural waterways. In the vernacular, streas. They feed primarily on crustaceans and smaller fish.

Presumed to be pelagic spawners, threadfins probably release many tiny buoyant eggs into the water column which then become part of the planktonPlankton is the aggregate community of weakly swimming but mostly drifting small organisms that inhabit the water column of the ocean, seas, and bodies of freshwater. The name comes from the Greek term, —meaning "wanderer" or "drifter". While some forms o. The eggs float freely with the currents until hatching. In HawaiiFor the 1959 novel and 1966 movie, see Hawaii (novel). Hawaii ( Hawaiian/ Hawaiian English: Hawai‘i with the ‘okina is the archipelago of the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Hawaii constitutes the 50th state of the United States, and as of the 2000, sixfinger threadfins (Polydactylus sexfilis) are the subject of experimental aquacultureAquaculture (sometimes misspelled "aquiculture") is the cultivation of natural produce, such as fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants, of aquatic environments. Mariculture is specifically marine aquaculture, and thus is a subset of aquaculture. Some example; they may soon alleviate pressures on wild stocks and lessen the state's dependence on imported fish.

See also: list of fish common namesThis is a list of fish common names . While some common names refer to a single species or family, others have been used for a confusing variety of different types; the articles listed here should explain the possibilities if the name is ambiguous. A Afri, list of fish familiesThis is a list of fish families sorted by scientific name. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Y Z A Ab-Am An-Ap Ar-Au Ab-Am Abyssocottidae Acanthuridae Acestrorhynchidae Achiridae Achiropsettidae Acipenseridae Acropomatidae Adrianichthyidae Age