Longfin yellowtail

The longfin yellowtail (Seriola rivoliana),[1] also known as the almaco or silvercoat jack, deep-water, falcate, European or highfin amberjack, rock salmon, longfin or yellow kingfish, is a game fish of the family Carangidae; they are in the same family as yellowtail and amberjack.[2] They are carnivorous and feed, both day and night, on other, smaller fish such as baitfish and small squid. The flesh is thick and dense, like tuna, and easily may be passed off for white albacore if prepared as sushi.[2]

Longfin yellowtail
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Carangiformes
Family: Carangidae
Genus: Seriola
Species:
S. rivoliana
Binomial name
Seriola rivoliana
Synonyms[1]
  • Seriola bonariensis (Valenciennes, 1833)
  • Seriola falcata Valenciennes, 1833
  • Seriola bovinoculata (J.L.B. Smith, 1959)
  • Seriola songoro Smith, 1959
  • Seriola colburni (Evermann & Clark, 1928)
  • Seriola coronata (Poey, 1860)
  • Seriola declivis (Poey, 1860)
  • Seriola ligulata Poey, 1860
  • Seriola proxima Poey, 1860
  • Seriola dubia (Lowe, 1839)

Taxonomy
An Almaco jack caught by a recreational fisher

Achille Valenciennes, and Georges Cuvier first described this species in 1833,[3] although Cuvier died in 1832. Valenciennes and Cuvier together described many fish species, most notably in the 22-volume, Histoire naturelle des poissons, (Natural History of Fish).[1]

Description

The longfin yellowtail has a less elongated, more flattened body than most jack species. Their dorsal fin and anal fins are elongated, and their outer edges have a definite sickle shape. The first rays of the almaco dorsal fin's longest parts are nearly twice as long as the dorsal spines, also different from other jacks.

They reach a typical length of 90 centimetres (35 in), sometimes reaching 160 centimetres (63 in) and 59.9 kilograms (132 lb).[1] Typical catch is approximately ten pounds, however, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which describes it as wide-ranging in small groups and not a common catch.[4]

Generally, longfin yellowtails are dusky-colored with faint amber or olive stripes down their sides. Their upper bodies and lower fins usually are dark brown or dark blue-green. The belly is much lighter and appears brassy or lavender. The nuchal bar and most of the fins are dark on adults. Exceptions are the pelvic fins which are white on the ventral sides.

Distribution and habitat

The longfin yellowtail is a pelagic species, which are found in open-ocean zones in the vast deep waters beyond the continental shelf. This species may be found in small groups on slopes and off reefs at depths from 5 to 160 metres (2.7 to 87.5 fathoms). They visit wrecks more often than most other jacks do. In the Indian to the west Pacific oceans, almaco jack live from Kenya to South Africa and have been spotted off Mariana Islands, Wake island, Ryukyu Islands, Kermadec Islands, and New Caledonia. In the eastern Pacific, almaco jack live from California to Peru and the Galápagos Islands. In the western Atlantic, they live mostly from Cape Cod to northern Argentina, although they are rare off North and South Carolina. Almaco jack are not so common in the Eastern Atlantic as elsewhere. Almaco live near Great Britain and off Lampedusa in the Mediterranean Sea.

They typically swim at depths ranging from 5–35 metres (16–115 ft).[1]

Behavior

The unusual stamina of the longfin yellowtail makes them a prime target for sport fishing in deep waters.

Almaco jack are subject to skin-based parasites. They remove them by rubbing against the rough skin of passing sharks. They are known to rub against passing scuba divers also, because they mistake them for sharks.[5]

These fish spawn as often as weekly throughout the year.[6]

Aquaculture

longfin yellowtails are farmed/ranched in deep water near the Island of Hawaii under the brand name Hawaiian Kanpachi; and in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico under the brand name: Baja Kanpachi, as a domesticated alternative to wild tuna. Global production reached 1,000,000 pounds (450,000 kg) in 2008.[2][7]

Almaco jack are abundant in the wild and never have been harvested commercially on large scale.[2] In 2019, however, application was made to the United States Environmental Protection Agency for approval to conduct a pilot study (using this species) in coastal waters of USA, on the shallow Florida shelf off the western coast of Sarasota County,[8] which would break the existing ban of such fish farming in USA coastal waters and likely, would lead to efforts to establish commercial-scale development of the industry using almaco jack. The application review is receiving a great deal of public discussion and a hearing is going to be held in late January 2020 in Sarasota.[9]

Eating almaco jack may cause a disease in humans called ciguatera, through bioaccumulation of ciguatoxin produced by a microscopic organism called dinoflagellate.[2] However, farmed almaco jack on a controlled diet are free of these dinoflagellates and therefore, do not transmit ciguatera when eaten.[2]

These fish have among the best reported feed-conversion ratios ever achieved. With no selective breeding at all, the amount of consumed bait fish required to produce one pound of almaco jack ranges from 1.6:1–2:1, ten times better than the observed ratio for bluefin tuna. The resulting meat has a fat content of around 30%.[6]

Typically, they are grown in ring- or diamond-shaped net pens moored to the sea bottom 800 feet (240 m) below. The sites chosen are areas that experience currents that mitigate the impact of the waste that the fish drop.[6]

As Food

The flesh of the longfin yellowtail is quite delicious and may be prepared in a myriad of dishes, from completely raw (e.g. sushi, sashimi, crudo, etc.) to fully cooked (e.g. grilled, steamed, baked, etc.).

Notes
  1. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2019). &speciesname=rivoliana"Seriola rivoliana" in FishBase. August 2019 version.
  2. Greenberg 2010
  3. Eschmeyer, W. N.; R. Fricke & R. van der Laan (eds.). "Seriola rivoliana". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  4. Almaco Jack, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission description
  5. Seriola rivoliana, Almaco Jack – MarineBio.org. Retrieved Monday, January 21, 2008, from http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=442 Archived 2014-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Greenberg 2010, 3171
  7. "Kona Blue". Kona Blue Water Farms. Archived from the original on 2011-02-18. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
  8. Hackney, Rachel Brown, Opponents of proposed ‘fish farm’ off Sarasota County coast lining up for Jan. 28 public hearing, The Sarasota News Leader, January 9, 2020
  9. United States Environmental Protection Agency Hearing notice for January 28, 2020 in Sarasota
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References
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