The bluefish ( Pomatomus saltatrix) is the only extant species of the family Pomatomidae. It is a marine pelagic fish found around the world in temperate and subtropical waters, except for the northern Pacific Ocean. Bluefish are known as tailor in Australia and New Zealand,
The bluefish is a moderately proportioned fish, with a broad, forked tail. The spiny first dorsal fin is normally folded back in a groove, as are its . Coloration is a grayish blue-green dorsally, fading to white on the lower sides and belly. Its single row of teeth in each jaw is uniform in size, knife-edged, and sharp. Bluefish commonly range in size from "snappers" of to much larger, sometimes weighing as much as , though fish heavier than are exceptional.
Taxonomy
The bluefish is the only extant species now included in the family Pomatomidae. At one time,
were included, but these are now grouped in a separate family,
Scombropidae. Extinct relatives of the bluefish include
Carangopsis from the
Ypresian of Italy and
Lophar from the Late
Miocene of Northern California. They are also found in South America.
Distribution
Bluefish are widely distributed around the world in tropical and subtropical waters. They are found in
pelagic waters on much of the continental shelves along eastern America (though not between south Florida and northern South America), Africa, the Mediterranean and Black Seas (and during migration in between), Southeast Asia, and Australia. They are found in a variety of coastal habitats: above the continental shelf, in energetic waters near surf beaches, or by rock headlands.
They also enter
estuaries and inhabit
brackish waters.
Periodically, they leave the coasts and migrate in schools through open waters.
Along the U.S. East Coast, bluefish are found off Florida in the winter. By April, they have disappeared, heading north. By June, they may be found off Massachusetts; in years of high abundance, stragglers may be found as far north as Nova Scotia. By October, they leave the waters north of Cape Cod, heading south down the East Coast of the United States from Rhode Island south to Georgia, to the waters off Florida. Some bluefish, perhaps less migratory,
Life history
Adult bluefish are typically long, with a maximum reported size of and . They reproduce during spring and summer, and can live up to 9 years.
Feeding habits
Adult bluefish are strong and aggressive, and live in loose groups. They are fast swimmers that prey on schools of forage fish, and continue attacking them in Feeding frenzy even after they appear to have eaten their fill.[Schultz, Ken (2009) Ken Schultz's Essentials of Fishing. John Wiley & Sons. .] Bluefish sometimes chase bait through the surf zone, attacking schools in very shallow water, churning the water like a washing machine. This behavior is sometimes referred to as a "bluefish blitz".
In turn, bluefish are preyed upon by larger predators at all stages of their lifecycle. As juveniles, they fall victim to a wide variety of oceanic predators, including striped bass, larger bluefish, fluke (summer flounder), weakfish, tuna, sharks, rays, and dolphins. As adults, bluefish are taken by tuna, sharks, billfish, seals, sea lions, dolphins, porpoises, and many other species.
Bluefish are aggressive and have been known to inflict severe bites on fishermen. Wading or swimming among feeding bluefish schools can be dangerous.[Lovko, Vincent J. (2008) Pathogenicity of the Purportedly Toxic Dinoflagellates Pfiesteria Piscicida and Pseudopfiesteria Shumwayae and Related Species ProQuest. .] In July 2006, a seven-year-old girl was attacked on a beach, near the Spanish town of Alicante, allegedly by a bluefish.[ "Un depredador rápido y muy voraz con dientes de sierra (in Spanish)" El País, July 14, 2006] In New Jersey, the large beachfeeder schools are very common and lifeguards report never having seen bluefish bite bathers in their entire careers.
Parasites
Like other fish, bluefish host a number of parasites. One parasite is Philometra saltatrix, a Philometra nematode in the ovaries. The females are brownish red and may be as long as 80 mm; the males are very small.[ ]
Recreational fisheries
In Australia, bluefish, called "tailor", are caught on the east coast from Fraser Island in Queensland around the Australian coastline to Point Quobba in Western Australia, including Tasmania. Lower numbers are generally found around southern Australia. Tailor are pelagic, forming schools near the surface, and move inshore to feed in bays, estuaries, and surf zones at depths up to 15 m. The juveniles inhabit large Bay and Estuary, while adults prefer the rocky headlands and Beach. Globally, the species occurs in tropical and temperate waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Indian Ocean, but is absent from the Eastern and Northwestern Pacific.
The IGFA All Tackle World Record for bluefish stands at landed by James Hussey near Hatteras, North Carolina.
Commercial fisheries
by Currier & Ives, 1866]]In the U.S., bluefish are landed primarily in recreational fisheries, but important commercial fisheries also exist in temperate and subtropical waters.
Management
Bluefish is a popular sport and food fish, and has been widely overfished.
Culinary use
Bluefish may be baked
Because of its fattiness, bluefish goes rancid rapidly, so it is generally not found far from its fisheries,
Nutrition
By the same token, it is high in omega-3 fatty acids, but also in mercury and PCBs,
Further reading
-
Bluefish NOAA FishWatch. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
External links
