Description: Body elongate, compressed. Large head, with a terminal mouth; lower jaw sometimes slightly prominent; strong sharp teeth. Pectoral fin short. Caudal fin not deeply forked. Greenish grey on the dorsal side, silvery on the rest of the body, with a black spot at the base of the pectoral fins.
Global Distribution: Circumglobal in tropical to subtropical waters; except the eastern Pacific. View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Maximum length 130 cm (total length); common length 60.0 cm (TL); maximum published weight 14.4 kg.
Behavioural ecology: Young form schools and attack small fishes. Adults are often in loose groups, often attacking shoals of mullets or other fishes. Associated with sharks and billfishes. Voracious, fast-moving, and aggressive.
Population structure & migrations: Migrate to warmer water during winter and to cooler water in the summer.
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: FishBase: 0 - 200 m.
Habitat: Pelagic. Occurs in oceanic and coastal waters. They are most common along surf beaches and rock headlands in clean, high energy waters. Small fish may be found in shallow coastal waters at least 2 m depth.
Feeding habits: Feed on other fishes (mostly sardines, bogues, etc), crustaceans and cephalopods.
Trophic level: FishBase: 4.5
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Highly valued commercial species; also popular as gamefish.
Conservation status: Global: Not evaluated.
Europe: Near threatened.
Nutritional information & food safety:
Proximate composition per 100 g:
energy value 123.2 kcal (6.2% DRV)
protein 26.60 g (53.2% DRV)<
fat 1.12 g (1.5% DRV)
of which saturates 0.360 g (1.8% DRV)
omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids 0.542 g
González J., Hernández C., Marrero P., Rapp E. (2000). Peces de Canarias: GuÃa Submarina (5th edition). Francisco Lemus Editor, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canarias, Spain, 235 pp.
Hureau J.-C., ed. (1984-1985). Fishes of the North-Eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO. Accessed through: Marine Species Identification Portal. World Wide Web electronic publication. http://species-identification.org (2014).
IUCN (2014). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. www.iucnredlist.org
Morato T., Afonso P., Lourinho P., Barreiros J.P., Santos R.S., Nash R.D.M. (2001). Length–weight relationships for 21 coastal fish species of the Azores, north-eastern Atlantic. Fisheries Research, 50(3): 297-302.
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Nogueira N., Cordeiro N., Aveiro M.J. (2012). Chemical composition, fatty acids profile and cholesterol content of commercialized marine fishes captured in Northeastern Atlantic. Journal of Fisheries Sciences, 7(3): 271-286.
