The greater amberjack (''Seriola dumerili''), also known as the allied kingfish, great amberfish, greater yellowtail, jenny lind, Sea donkey, purplish amberjack, reef donkey, rock salmon, sailors choice, yellowtail, and yellow trevally, is a species of predatory

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Carangidae, the jacks and pompanos. It is found in temperate, subtropical, and tropical seas around the world. It is a popular

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

species for recreational fisheries and is important in commercial fisheries. It is the largest species in the family Carangidae.

Description

The ''greater amberjack'' is a large predatory fish which has a body colouring which varies from brownish to bluish-grey on the dorsal surfaces contrasting with the silvery-white underparts. A diagonal sooty stripe starts at the snout and runs along the centre of the back

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

; another dark stripe runs from the upper jaw, across the eye to in front of the first dorsal fin. Some fish may show a light yellow to reddish-brown stripe along the flanks. The fins are dusky in colour. The second dorsal and

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as see ...

s have a low anterior lobe. Small juveniles have clear fins and a series of five vertical bands along the body and a sixth band on the caudal peduncle. The shape of the body is elongated and fusiform and it is of moderate depth and laterally compressed, and has a covering of small cycloid scales. The largest fish have been measured at in

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

, but the more typical length found is , while the largest published weight is . SeriolaDumeriliRLSLarge

Distribution

The greater amberjack has an almost circumglobal distribution in the world's subtropical and tropical seas and oceans. In the Indian Ocean, it is found along the African coast from South Africa east through the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

and southern Japan, reaching the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost ...

and

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, ...

in the Pacific Ocean. It reaches as far south as the island of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

off the coast of Australia. In the western Atlantic Ocean, this species is found around

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

and on the North American coast as far north as

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

extending south as far as Brazil, including the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

and the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexic ...

. In the eastern Atlantic Ocean, it has been recorded as a vagrant as far north as the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isl ...

and is found off in the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

south to Morocco and in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

. It may occur along the west African coast, but may be confused with the similar '' Seriola carpenteri''.

Habitat and biology

Habitat

The greater amberjack is found as solitary individuals or in small to moderate-sized schools, which are epibenthic and

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or w ...

and occur in the vicinity of reefs, deep offshore caves, drop-offs, rocky outcrops, and deep seaward reefs. It sometimes enters coastal bays, while the juveniles are infrequently recorded quite far well out to sea where they shelter among floating algae, such as ''

Sargassum ''Sargassum'' is a genus of brown (class Phaeophyceae) macroalgae ( seaweed) in the order Fucales. Numerous species are distributed throughout the temperate and tropical oceans of the world, where they generally inhabit shallow water and coral ...

'', and debris. It can also be found over wrecks. Smaller individuals, less than , can be caught in shallow water, while the larger fish prefer deeper water, normally and have been recorded at depths of .

Diet

Greater amberjacks are opportunistic predators when they are adults, which prey on

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning " ...

and pelagic fishes, as well as

cephalopods A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, a ...

and

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapoda, decapods, ostracoda, seed shrimp, branchiopoda, branchiopods, argulidae, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopoda, isopods, barnacles, copepods, ...

s. Common fish prey species include the bigeye scad (''Selar crumenophthalmus'') and sardines ('' Sardinella aurita'' and '' Sardina pilchardus''). The juvenile fish feed on

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a cruc ...

, including the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

e of decapods and other small invertebrates. The juveniles switch to feeding on larger prey such as larger benthic and nektonic organisms when they attain a length of , and once they have grown larger than , they restrict their prey choice to animals that swim on or over the substrate; when they attain , they are mainly piscivorous and at this size, they move from open waters to more coastal areas.

Breeding

''S. dumerli'' is gonochoric, meaning that the males and females are separate and determined at birth, and no

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...

exists other than size. The sexes begin to differentiate around 4–5 months of age when they attain a length of . In the Mediterranean, they reach sexual maturity at 4 (males) and 5 (females) years of age when they attain a length around in length in males and females. In western Atlantic populations, the males are mature after three years and and the females after four years of age and attaining . This species has been observed to show pair courtship off Belize where schools numbering around 120 individuals were found and pairing mainly occurred during when the Moon was either full or waning and between February and October. Half of the males are sexually mature at fork length for males; half of the females are sexually mature on attaining fork length. This is a highly productive fish; a single female may lay 18 to 59 million eggs in a single

spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquat ...

season. Off the coast of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, spawning peaks in April and May, each female is estimated to spawn once every four to five days during the spawning season, lasting around 60 days. In the Mediterranean, spawning takes place in June and July. Spawning occurs over such habitats as reefs and shipwrecks, demonstrated by the abundance of juveniles in these habitats in the summer following the spring spawning in the western Atlantic. The eggs are in diameter, and after spawning, the embryos take around 40 hours to develop at , and the newly hatched larvae take 31–36 days to develop into juveniles. They can live up to 17 years. Greater Umberjack baked with olive oil

Predators and parasites

Greater amberjack are preyed on by larger fishes including the

yellowfin tuna The yellowfin tuna (''Thunnus albacares'') is a species of tuna found in pelagic waters of tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide. Yellowfin is often marketed as ahi, from the Hawaiian , a name also used there for the closely related bigeye ...

(''Thunnus albacares'') and

European hake ''Merluccius merluccius'', the European hake, is a merluccid hake of the genus ''Merluccius''. Other vernacular names include Cornish salmon and herring hake. It is a predatory species which was often netted alongside one of its favoured prey, th ...

(''Merluccius merluccius''), and seabirds including the

brown noddy The brown noddy or common noddy (''Anous stolidus'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. The largest of the noddies, it can be told from the closely related black noddy by its larger size and plumage, which is dark brown rather than black. The b ...

(''Anous stolidus'') and sooty tern (''Sterna fuscata'').

Tapeworm Eucestoda, commonly referred to as tapeworms, is the larger of the two subclasses of flatworms in the class Cestoda (the other subclass is Cestodaria). Larvae have six posterior hooks on the scolex (head), in contrast to the ten-hooked Cesto ...

s are occasionally recorded as infesting this species, these worms being harmless to humans, albeit rather unappetising. The

monogenea Monogeneans are a group of ectoparasitic flatworms commonly found on the skin, gills, or fins of fish. They have a direct lifecycle and do not require an intermediate host. Adults are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female repro ...

n '' Zeuxapta seriolae'' has been documented as living as a parasite on the gills of these fish.

Human usage

The greater amberjack is an important food fish and is a commercial quarry species, and the species has been used in

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

in the Mediterranean since the 1980s. As a predatory fish, it requires protein and lipids sourced from other fish, so questions have arisen over the sustainability of its culture. It is also a popular game species for angling, having earned the nickname "reef donkey" for its stubborn fight. The meat is used for

sushi is a Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is "sushi rice," also ...

and

sashimi is a Japanese delicacy consisting of fresh raw fish or meat sliced into thin pieces and often eaten with soy sauce. Origin The word ''sashimi'' means "pierced body", i.e. " 刺身" = ''sashimi'', where 刺し = ''sashi'' (pierced, stu ...

in Japan, while in Florida and Mexico, its flesh is marketed fresh and can be fried, broiled, baked, or grilled. Angling techniques used to catch greater amberjacks include

trolling In slang, a troll is a person who posts or makes inflammatory, insincere, digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages online (such as in social media, a newsgroup, a forum, a chat room, a online video game), or in real life, with the i ...

at the surface with various artificial lures and natural baits. They are often incidentally caught by anglers who are fishing the seabed for snappers and

groupers Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes. Not all serranids are called "groupers"; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name "grouper" i ...

Taxonomy and etymology

The greater amberjack was formally described as ''Caranx dumerili'' by French naturalist

Antoine Risso Giuseppe Antonio Risso (8 April 1777 – 25 August 1845), called Antoine Risso, was a Niçard and natural history, naturalist. Risso was born in the city of Nice in the Duchy of Savoy, and studied under Giovanni Battista Balbis. He published ' (1 ...

in 1810, with the type locality given as Nice, France. The

binomial Binomial may refer to: In mathematics *Binomial (polynomial), a polynomial with two terms * Binomial coefficient, numbers appearing in the expansions of powers of binomials *Binomial QMF, a perfect-reconstruction orthogonal wavelet decomposition ...

consists of the generic name, which is the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

name for this species, while the specific name is patronymic, the identity of the person honoured in the patronym was not identified by Risso, but is almost certainly French

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

André Marie Constant Duméril André Marie Constant Duméril (1 January 1774 – 14 August 1860) was a French zoologist. He was professor of anatomy at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle from 1801 to 1812, when he became professor of herpetology and ichthyology. His ...

(1774–1860), who was the father of another well-known French zoologist Auguste Duméril (1812–1870). It is the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of the genus ''

Seriola ''Seriola'' is a genus of ray-finned fish, with many species commonly known as amberjacks. Nine extant species are currently recognized, although these were formerly split into many more. Also, several species are currently placed in several ot ...

References

{{Authority control

greater amberjack The greater amberjack (''Seriola dumerili''), also known as the allied kingfish, great amberfish, greater yellowtail, jenny lind, Sea donkey, purplish amberjack, reef donkey, rock salmon, sailors choice, yellowtail, and yellow trevally, is a spec ...

Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish of the Indian Ocean Fish of the Pacific Ocean Fish of the Mediterranean Sea

Taxa named by Antoine Risso