Species: Seriola dumerili, Greater Amberjack

Seriola dumerili (Risso, 1810)

Greater Amberjack

Elongate, fusiform, compressed; snout long, pointed; bone on top of rear of top jaw broad, with rounded tip, reaching to under middle of eye; gill rakers (excluding rudiments) 18-24 in juveniles <20 cm FL, 11-19 in larger fish; dorsal fin VII (last imbedded in large fish) + I, 29-34; anal rays II (reduced or completely embedded in large fish) + I, 18-22, its base much shorter than (59-71% of ) soft dorsal base; 2nd dorsal and anal fin lobes low (dorsal <15% fork length); no finlets after 2nd dorsal and anal fins; pectoral short (< head length); tail base slender; tail strongly forked; grooves present on dorsal and ventral surface of caudal fin base, but no lateral fleshy keel; lateral line with slight arch over pectoral region; no scutes (hard spiny scales) on lateral line.

Blue grey to olive above, silvery below; usually an oblique dark band from eye to origin of dorsal fin; often an amber stripe from eye along flank; tail fin dark, narrow lighter rear border, lower tip often light or white. Juveniles (up to 20 cm) with 6 dark bars on the body that are irregularly split vertically, & that do not extend onto dorsal and anal fins.

Size: attains 190 cm, 80.6 Kg.

Habitat: pelagic and near bottom; often around dropoffs.

Depth: 3- 385 m; large fish usually 18-72 m.

Indo-central Pacific and both sides of the Atlantic; Nova Scotia to Brazil.