The aim of the current study was to examine and document the diverse scale characteristics of three species of gerreid fish, namely Gerres longirostris (standard length [SL] 166–212 mm, Gerres oyena (SL 120–135 mm) and Gerres oblongus (SL 217–268 mm) from the Red Sea, Hurghada, Egypt. Variations in inter-specific geomorphometrics and in meristics of radii of the scales of these gerreid species were clearly evident in terms of size and shape. Light and scanning electron microscopic techniques were used to identify and describe the detailed scale structure and surface ornamentation of these Gerres species. These studies revealed a wide range of variations in surface morphology, interradial tongues and circuli, outer and inner lateral circuli, denticles, interradial and intercircular grooves, caudal field segmentation and granulation pattern, position of scales on fish, annuli and radii as well as lateral line canal. These findings have unequivocally demonstrated the potential use of scale size and shape variation as a means of identifying the Gerres species studied. Scale characteristics are a taxonomy tool that can be used for the identification of stocks and fisheries management.