Bluefish

The bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) is the only extant species of the family Pomatomidae. It is a marine pelagic fish found around the world in temperate and subtropical waters, except for the northern Pacific Ocean. Bluefish are known as tailor in Australia and New Zealand,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> elf and shad in South Africa.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is a popular gamefish and food fish.

The bluefish is a moderately proportioned fish, with a broad, forked tail. The spiny first dorsal fin is normally folded back in a groove, as are its pectoral fins. Coloration is a grayish blue-green dorsally, fading to white on the lower sides and belly. Its single row of teeth in each jaw is uniform in size, knife-edged, and sharp. Bluefish commonly range in size from seven-inch (18-cm) "snappers" to much larger, sometimes weighing as much as Template:Cvt, though fish heavier than Template:Cvt are exceptional.

Systematics

The bluefish is the only extant species now included in the family Pomatomidae. At one time, gnomefishes were included, but these are now grouped in a separate family, Scombropidae. Extinct relatives of the bluefish include Carangopsis from the Early Eocene of Italy and Lophar from the Late Miocene of Northern California.

Distribution

File:Trolling for bluefish2.jpg

Trolling for blue fish lithograph by Currier & Ives, 1866

Bluefish are widely distributed around the world in tropical and subtropical waters. They are found in pelagic waters on much of the continental shelves along eastern America (though not between south Florida and northern South America), Africa, the Mediterranean and Black Seas (and during migration in between), Southeast Asia, and Australia. They are found in a variety of coastal habitats: above the continental shelf, in energetic waters near surf beaches, or by rock headlands.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> They also enter estuaries and inhabit brackish waters.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Periodically, they leave the coasts and migrate in schools through open waters.<ref name=Fishbase/><ref name=FAO>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Along the U.S. East Coast, bluefish are found off Florida in the winter. By April, they have disappeared, heading north. By June, they may be found off Massachusetts; in years of high abundance, stragglers may be found as far north as Nova Scotia. By October, they leave the waters north of New York City, heading south (whereas some bluefish, perhaps less migratory,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> are present in the Gulf of Mexico throughout the year).

In a similar pattern overall, the economically significant population that spawns in Europe's Black Sea migrates south through Istanbul (Bosphorus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles, Aegean Sea) and on toward Turkey's Mediterranean coast in the autumn for the cold season.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A campaign was launched in Turkiye by Fikir Sahibi Damaklar (Intelligent Palates) to protect the Bluefish. This was reported on in 2013.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> More recently, it was reported that bluefish near Istanbul were abundant and that there is a fishing ban every year between April 15 - Sept. 1 to preserve fish eggs and ensure sustainable fish farming.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Along the South African coast and environs, movement patterns are roughly in parallel.<ref name=mosselbaai>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Life history

Adult bluefish are typically between 20 and 60 cm (Template:Nowrap long, with a maximum reported size of 120 cm (4 ft) and Template:Cvt. They reproduce during spring and summer, and can live up to 9 years.<ref name=Fishbase/><ref name=FAO /> Bluefish fry eat zooplankton, and are largely at the mercy of currents.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Spent bluefish have been found off east-central Florida, migrating north. As with most marine fish, their spawning habits are not well known. In the western side of the North Atlantic, at least two populations occur, separated by Cape Hatteras in North Carolina. The Gulf Stream can carry fry spawned to the south of Cape Hatteras to the north, and eddies can spin off, carrying them into populations found off the coast of the mid-Atlantic, and the New England states.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Feeding habits

File:Very Large Bluefish.JPG

A large bluefish

Adult bluefish are strong and aggressive, and live in loose groups. They are fast swimmers that prey on schools of forage fish, and continue attacking them in feeding frenzies even after they appear to have eaten their fill.<ref name=Fishbase /><ref name=FAO /> Depending on area and season, they favor menhaden and other sardine-like fish (Clupeidae), jacks (Scombridae), weakfish (Sciaenidae), grunts (Haemulidae), striped anchovies (Engraulidae), shrimp, and squid. They are cannibalistic and can destroy their own young.<ref name=Schultz>Schultz, Ken (2009) Ken Schultz's Essentials of Fishing. John Wiley & Sons. Template:ISBN.</ref> Bluefish sometimes chase bait through the surf zone, attacking schools in very shallow water, churning the water like a washing machine. This behavior is sometimes referred to as a "bluefish blitz".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In turn, bluefish are preyed upon by larger predators at all stages of their lifecycle. As juveniles, they fall victim to a wide variety of oceanic predators, including striped bass, larger bluefish, fluke (summer flounder), weakfish, tuna, sharks, rays, and dolphins. As adults, bluefish are taken by tuna, sharks, billfish, seals, sea lions, dolphins, porpoises, and many other species.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Bluefish are aggressive and have been known to inflict severe bites on fishermen. Wading or swimming among feeding bluefish schools can be dangerous.<ref>Lovko, Vincent J. (2008) Pathogenicity of the Purportedly Toxic Dinoflagellates Pfiesteria Piscicida and Pseudopfiesteria Shumwayae and Related SpeciesTemplate:Dead link ProQuest. Template:ISBN.</ref> In July 2006, a seven-year-old girl was attacked on a beach, near the Spanish town of Alicante, allegedly by a bluefish.<ref>"Un depredador rápido y muy voraz con dientes de sierra (in Spanish)" El País, July 14, 2006</ref> In New Jersey, the large beachfeeder schools are very common and lifeguards report never having seen bluefish bite bathers in their entire careers.Template:Citation needed

Parasites

File:Parasite170008-fig1 - Ovary of fish with visible Philometra females.png

Ovary of fish with visible Philometra (nematode parasites) females - lower row: bluefish

Like other fish, bluefish host a number of parasites. One parasite is Philometra saltatrix, a philometrid nematode in the ovaries. The females are brownish red and may be as long as 80 mm; the males are very small.<ref name="MoravecChaabane2017">Template:Cite journal Template:Open access</ref>

Recreational fisheries

In Australia, bluefish, called "tailor", are caught on the west coast from Exmouth to Albany, with the most productive fishing areas being in the west coast bioregion.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The IGFA All Tackle World Record for bluefish stands at Template:Cvt landed by James Hussey near Hatteras, North Carolina.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The unofficial record belongs to Captain Benjamin Dellacono who landed a 35 lb 6oz Blue Fish off the coast of Stonington, Connecticut.

Commercial fisheries

Template:Multiple image In the U.S., bluefish are landed primarily in recreational fisheries, but important commercial fisheries also exist in temperate and subtropical waters.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Bluefish population abundance is typically cyclical, with abundance varying widely over a span of 10 years or more.<ref name=Ulanski>Template:Cite book</ref>

Management

Bluefish is a popular sport and food fish, and has been widely overfished.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Fisheries management has generally stabilized its population. In the middle Atlantic region of the U.S., bluefish were heavily overfished in the late 1990s, but active management rebuilt the stock by 2007.<ref name=FishWatch>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Elsewhere, public awareness efforts, such as bluefish festivals, combined with catch limits, may be having positive effects in reducing the stress on the regional stocks.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Culinary use

Bluefish may be baked or poached,<ref name="admed">Template:Cite book</ref> or smoked.<ref name="mkt"/> The smaller ones ("snapper blues") are generally fried, as they are not very oily.<ref name="adatl">Template:Cite book</ref>

Because of its fattiness, bluefish goes rancid rapidly, so it is generally not found far from its fisheries,<ref name="mkt">Template:Cite book</ref> but where it is available, it is often inexpensive.<ref name="sifton">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It must be refrigerated and consumed soon after purchase; some recipes call for keeping it in vinegar and wine before cooking, in vina d'alhos<ref name="adatl"/> or en escabeche.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> By the same token, it is high in omega-3 fatty acids, but also in mercury and PCBs,<ref name="mkt"/> containing the high level of about 0.4 ppm of mercury on average,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> comparable to albacore tuna or Spanish mackerel.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> For that reason, the U.S. FDA recommends that young children and women of childbearing age consume no more than one serving per week (a serving size is about 4 ounces uncooked for an adult, 2 ounces for children ages 4–7 years, 3 ounces for children ages 8–10 years, and 4 ounces for children 11 years and older).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Further reading

• {{#if:168559

| {{#invoke:template wrapper|wrap|_template=cite web|_exclude=id,ID,taxon

 | url = https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=168559
 | title = Pomatomus saltatrix
 | publisher = Integrated Taxonomic Information System
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• Bluefish Template:Webarchive NOAA FishWatch. Retrieved 4 November 2012.

External links

• Bluefish or Tailor video on Youtube
• Tailor in Australian Marine Reserve on Youtube
• {{#invoke:Cite taxon|main|fishbase|genus=|species=|subspecies=}}
• Template:EOL
• Life history of the bluefish
• Photo of a large bluefish
• Fisheries Western Australia Tailor Fact Sheet
• Bluefish feast in Italy