Bluefish

SPECIES INFORMATION

  • The Bluefish or the Pomatomus saltatrix belongs to the Pomatomidae family. The marine pelagic fish can be found in waters that have a subtropical or temperate climate. It is, however, not found in the northern Pacific Ocean. The Bluefish is known by other names like tailor, elf, and shad. It is popular as a food fish and game fish. The fish can be found in Florida and in the waters of New England. Bluefish prefer a temperature of roughly 45 – 80 degrees. 68 degrees is the best for the fish.
  • The Bluefish has a bluish grey back and its sides and underbelly are silvery. It has a forked tail that is broad and a dorsal fin that is spiny. It also has a prominent jaw and a pointed snout with teeth that are sharp and compressed. Its single row teeth in each of its jaw have a uniform size that is sharp and knife-edged.
  • A rod, lure, and reel or a baited hook is used to fish the Bluefish. The baited hook is trailed at the back of a vessel in order to catch the fish. Each of the fish is then hooked and hauled individually using the hand. A large cone-shaped net is also used in order to fish. This is dragged along the seafloor in order to catch the fish. The net is towed at a low speed in order to capture the fishes in the path.

SIZE

The Bluefish will mostly have a length of 7 inches or 18 cms. They are sometimes much larger than this size. The fish weighs 40lb or 18 kgs though finding a fish that is heavier than 20lb or 9 kgs is rare. The Bluefish can live up to 14 years of age.

RANGE

The Bluefish is distributed around the worldwide in the subtropical and tropical waters. They are found in the continental shelves along Eastern America. They are however not found in the belt between Northern South America and South Florida. The Bluefish has a presence in Africa, in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, Southeast Asia and in Australia. The fishes can be found in many coastal habitats and in waters near the surf beaches. They may also be present in the rocky headlands. The Bluefish will enter the estuary and inhabit the brackish waters. They also leave the coast periodically and migrate in schools through the open waters.

HABITAT

The Bluefish spawns the open ocean. Here the larva develops into juveniles and they then migrate to the estuaries and to the habitats near the shore. The bluefish will migrate from the warm to the cool waters in the summer months. The fishes will mature in two years’ time when the female lays around 2 million eggs.

DIET

The adult Bluefish is aggressive and strong and they live in loose groups. These prey on schools of forage fish. Depending on the season and the area that they are in, the Bluefish will prefer to feed on the sardine-like fishes. This includes the grunts, weakfish, jacks, striped anchovies, squid, and shrimp. The Bluefish is cannibalistic in nature, which means that it can destroy its own young fishes.

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