Caranx melampygus, Bluefin trevally : fisheries, aquaculture, gamefish, aquarium

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Caranx melampygus Cuvier, 1833

Bluefin trevally
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Caranx melampygus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Caranx melampygus (Bluefin trevally)
Caranx melampygus
Picture by Randall, J.E.

Saudi Arabia territory information

Common names: Bayad, Girim
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Known from the Red Sea (Ref. 94641).
National Checklist:
Territory Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Smith-Vaniz, W.F., 1984
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Carangue aîle bleue, Jurel de aleta azul, Blue-fin trevally, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Carangiformes (Jacks) > Carangidae (Jacks and pompanos) > Caranginae
Etymology: Caranx: French, carangue, the name of a Caribbean fish; 1836 (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Cuvier.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 190 m (Ref. 9710). Tropical; 35°N - 35°S, 30°E - 78°W

Distribution Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa to Ducie Island, north to the Ryukyu Islands, south to New Caledonia. Eastern Central Pacific: Mexico to Panama (Ref. 9283). Hybrid with Caranx sexfasciatus found in Hawaii (Ref. 58422).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 35.0  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 117 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); common length : 60.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3280); max. published weight: 43.5 kg (Ref. 4699)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 21 - 24; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 17 - 21; Vertebrae: 24. This species is distinguished by the following characters: gill rakers (including rudiments) 5-9 + 17-21 = 25-29 (usually 26-27); breast completely scaly; straight part of lateral line with 0-10 anterior scales followed by 27-42 strong scutes; adipose eyelid weakly developed, small anteriorly, posterior adipose eyelid extends onto eye to rear border of pupil in large adults; upper jaw with outer row of strong canines widely spaced in adults, and an inner band of small villiform teeth, widest at symphysis; lower limb of first gill arch jaw with a single row of strong conical teeth widely spaced in adults. Colour of adults with head and dorsal half of body brassy, suffused with blue, and covered with small blue black spots (forming at about 16 to 22 cm fork length and increasing in number with size); second dorsal, anal, and caudal fins electric blue; juveniles and young adults, head and body silvery grey and fins pale to dark dusky, except pectoral fins yellow (Ref. 9894, 90102).


Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal; Cross section: compressed.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

The most common trevally in coral reefs occurring singly or occasionally in schools (Ref. 90102). Adults are pelagic in coastal and oceanic waters, associated with reefs (Ref. 9283, 58302). Juveniles occur seasonally in shallow sandy inshore waters (Ref. 9710) and rivers (Ref. 12792). Adults feed mainly on other fishes (Ref. 9283) and crustaceans (Ref. 9710). They are often toxic when length reaches more than 50 cm (Ref. 4795). Mainly marketed fresh, but also dried or salted (Ref. 9283). They are caught primarily on hook-and-line and by spearing; also with traps and gill nets. An excellent sports fish (Ref. 9894).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Smith-Vaniz, William F. | Collaborators

Paxton, J.R., D.F. Hoese, G.R. Allen and J.E. Hanley, 1989. Pisces. Petromyzontidae to Carangidae. Zoological Catalogue of Australia, Vol. 7. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 665 p. (Ref. 7300)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2 (Global))

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 09 March 2015

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 4690)





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Territories
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
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Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
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Stamps, coins, misc.
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Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
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Morphometrics
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References
References

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Special reports

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 23.2 - 29, mean 27.9 °C (based on 2624 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01698 (0.01408 - 0.02048), b=2.96 (2.93 - 2.99), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.5   ±0.8 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.17=0.23; tm=2; Fec=49,700).
Prior r = 0.69, 95% CL = 0.45 - 1.03, Based on 3 data-limited stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (59 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High to very high vulnerability (75 of 100). 🛈
Price category (Ref. 80766):   High.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 14.7 [6.6, 29.0] mg/100g; Iron = 0.319 [0.174, 0.619] mg/100g; Protein = 20.3 [18.0, 22.7] %; Omega3 = 0.142 [0.084, 0.238] g/100g; Selenium = 56.3 [27.9, 115.0] μg/100g; VitaminA = 62.9 [18.4, 209.2] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.451 [0.325, 0.642] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.