Amber-jack — Part 2

Seriola dumerili (Risso)

Images coming soon.

g. Pectoral fin moderate, rarely longer than head; scutes about 50; .... crysos

gg. Pectoral fin very long, much longer than head; scutes about 40; .... caballus

ff. Body oblong-ovate, the depth more than 1/3 the length.

h. General colour silvery; vertical fins not all black.

i. Body moderately elevated, the depth in adult 1/2 to 1/3 the length; opercular spot very small or obsolete; no pectoral spot.

j. Body rather slender, the depth about 2 3/4 in the length; dorsal and caudal fins largely black; .... marginatus

jj. Body deeper, the depth about 2 1/2 in length; caudal fin pale, the dorsal scarcely dusky; .... latus

ii. Body much elevated, the depth in adult 2 1/5 in length; no opercular spot; a dark spot in axil; .... medusicola

hh. General colour brassy or blackish; vertical fins black.

k. Anterior profile gibbous, scutes about 28; .... lugubris

kk. Anterior profile scarcely gibbous; scutes about 35; .... melampygus

aa. Teeth on vomer and palatines wanting or deciduous; .... guara

Carangus vinctus is known only from the Pacific Coast of Mexico from Lower California to Punta Arenas. It is a well-marked species, abundant about the entrance to the Gulf of California.

Colour, dusky, bluish above, silvery below, with golden and greenish reflections; 8 or 9 vertical dark half-bars from back to below lateral line, the widest about equal to diameter of orbit, and more than twice as wide as the light interspaces; breast blackish; head dusky, end of snout black; a distinct black blotch on upper angle of opercle; fins somewhat dusky, the lower yellow in life; pectoral without spot; axil dusky; anal white at tip.

Carangus ruber is known only from Cuba and St. Croix, in the West Indies; not abundant enough to be of any value as food.

Colour, bluish-olive, silvery below, scarcely yellowish in life; a vaguely defined horizontal stripe of clear blue just below the dorsal; dorsal yellowish-gray, other fins dusky olive; a distinct blackish bar extending along lower lobe of caudal.

Carangus bartholomaei occurs in the West Indies, and occasionally north to Florida and the Carolinas. It is common about Cuba and is of some little value as food.

Colour, bluish silvery, everywhere strongly washed with golden, the young with golden spots; fins all pale yellow; no black on opercle or lower lobe of caudal. It is known as the yellow-jack.

Carangus hippos, the cavalla or jack, is the most abundant and one of the most valuable of the genus. It is found on both coasts of tropical America, north to Cape Cod and the Gulf of California. It occurs also in the East Indies, and is everywhere a food-fish of considerable importance. On our Atlantic Coast it is next in abundance to C. crysos.

Colour, olivaceous above, sides and under parts golden; a large faint black spot on lower rays of pectoral; axil with a black blotch; edge of soft dorsal black; upper edge of caudal peduncle dusky.

Carangus crysos, the runner, hard tail, or jurel, reaches a foot or more in length and is found from Brazil north to Cape Cod. It is more abundant northward than any other species of Carangus, and is a food-fish of considerable importance, especially in the West Indies.

Colour, greenish-olive, golden-yellow or silvery below; a black blotch on opercle; fins all pale.

Carangus caballus, the cocinero, is the representative of C. crysos on the Pacific Coast. It occurs from Panama and Cerros Island northward to San Diego, and is quite abundant from the Gulf of California southward.

Carangus marginatus occurs on the Pacific Coast of Mexico from Mazatlan to Panama, and is not uncommon. From C. latus, which it closely resembles, it may be readily known by its less slender form, dark colours, and larger eye.

Carangus latus, the horse-eye jack, inhabits the same waters as the preceding, and is also found on the Atlantic Coast from Brazil to South Carolina and Virginia. It also occurs in the East Indies. It is not of much value as food. The flesh, in some places in the tropics, is reputed poisonous, giving rise to the disease called Ciguatera. It is abundant southward, but further north it is less common than C. hippos.

Colour, bluish, sides golden or silvery; a very small, black opercular spot; young sometimes with faint dark crossbands; fins mostly grayish; anterior part of soft dorsal dusky; caudal yellow, no black; no spot on pectoral; no axillary spot.

Carangus medusicola is known only from the vicinity of Mazatlan where it is very common on sandy shores. The young of an inch in length are very abundant in the body-cavity of a large translucent jelly-fish found about the Venados Islands in January. This fish reaches a foot in length and is of some food-value.