The Skipper, Or Saury, closely resembles the garfish. It is also known as saury-pike, skip-jack, halion, and skopster. The Scotch call it the Egyptian herring, gosnick, and gowdnock. It rarely or never exceeds eighteen inches in length, and may be distinguished from the garfish by five or six finlets which will be found between the dorsal fin and tail ; there are similar finlets near the tail, on the belly. The edges of its jaws are not serrated as are those of the garfish.

Very large shoals of skippers visit the coast of Cornwall at the beginning of summer, departing in the autumn ; and hundreds may sometimes be seen leaping out of the water at one time, this peculiarity no doubt giving them some of their local names. They probably do great harm to the pilchards, which they attack and sometimes transfix with their little sharp snouts. A few are sometimes caught on small baited hooks, but skippers would not be specially fished for.