The Malabar trevally is similar to many of the other species in the genus Carangoides, with the number of gill rakers and the grey-brown colour of the tongue being the diagnostic features.

[2] The Malabar trevally was first scientifically described by German ichthyologists Marcus Elieser Bloch and Johann Gottlob Schneider in the massive 1801 volume of Systema Ichthyologiae iconibus cx illustratum, a book which is the taxonomic authority of many fish species.

[7] The lateral line has a moderate anterior curve before, intersecting the straight section between the twelfth and fourteenth soft rays of the second dorsal fin.

[8] The colour of the Malabar trevally is usually a silver overlain by a bluish-grey hue on the upper side of the fish fading to a silvery white on the underside and lower flanks.

It occurs from South Africa and Madagascar in the west,[5] north along the east African coast and into the Persian Gulf, but has not been recorded from the Red Sea[9] since 1860, where a capture was reported under the name Caranx malabaricus.

[10] Its range stretches east to Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, and a number of small Pacific islands including Vanuatu and New Caledonia.

This further suggests the Malabar trevally can filter the small krill type prey, as well as taking larger fishes and squid.

The Malabar trevally's breeding period was reported as between February and October in this location, with the main peak from July to September.

[17] The Malabar trevally is of minor importance to fisheries in most regions it inhabits, often considered too small to be worth actively targeting.

[8] In these regions, it still forms a considerable proportion of the bycatch, and studies have shown that at the current level of removal, the species is ecologically sustainable.

[7] In South Africa, the species is often caught by anglers using light tackle and baits such as prawns and small fish, as well as occasionally being speared by divers.