Latin name

Rachycentron canadum

Other names

Ling, cabio, lemonfish, crab-eater, flathead, black salmon, black kingfish, sergeant fish, runner; French: mafou; Japanese: sugi; Portuguese: bijupirá.

Identification

The body is elongated, with a broad, impressed head. The first dorsal fin consists of 8-10 short depressed spines not connected by a membrane. The second dorsal and anal fins each have 1-2 spines and 20-30 soft rays. The adult has a dark brown color with a whitish underside, and the sides are marked with silvery or bronze lines. It is comparable in shape to a shark, it has a powerful tail fin and a raised front part of the second dorsal fin.

Distribution

Occurs in all oceans except the eastern part of the Pacific. In the western Atlantic Ocean, it is known from Cape Cod in the north to Argentina in the south. In the eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean, the species occurs off the coast of Africa from Morocco to the southern tip of the continent, in the Mediterranean Sea it is rare. Widely distributed in the coastal and island zones of the Indian Ocean. In the western Pacific, it is found from Japan to Australia (New South Wales), Indonesia, the Philippines, the Caroline Islands, and other islands. Known in the Sea of Japan off the coast of Korea.

Habitat

Adults prefer shallow continental shelf waters, often congregating along reefs and around buoys, pilings, shipwrecks, anchored boats, and other stationary or floating objects. They are found in a variety of locations on muddy, gravel or sandy bottoms, near coral reefs and artificial reservoirs, and at depths of up to 60 feet.

Size

Can reach a length of 6 feet and a weight of 90 pounds. Average size is 3 feet and 15 pounds. Live from 9 to 10 years. The world record specimen weighed 135 pounds 9 ounces.

Life history and Behavior

Adults often swim alone or among small schools of other Cobia or sharks. They spawn in the marine waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico in late spring, April-May, and the larvae migrate to shore. They migrate from marine waters to coastal waters and from coastal waters from east to west and vice versa. Little is known about their movements.

Food and feeding habits

A voracious predator. It feeds on crustaceans, mollusks, as well as eels and various small fish that live in shallow coastal waters.

Reproduction

Caviar is pelagic. In the Gulf of Mexico, spawning occurs from April to October, in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Pakistan in March-April.