United States (contiguous states) country information

Common names: Black salmon, Cobia, Crab eater
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: gamefish: yes;
Comments: Type locality: Carolina (Ref. 48635). Present offshore south of Cape Hatteras (Ref. 37512). Also Ref. 26340, 26938, 13442.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray, 1986
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Mafou, Кобия (=нигрита), Black bonito, ... more

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Carangiformes (Jacks) > Rachycentridae (Cobia)
Etymology: Rachycentron: Greek, rhachis, -ios = spine + Greek, kentron = sting (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Linnaeus.

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

Marine; brackish; reef-associated; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 1200 m (Ref. 9739). Subtropical; 17°C - 32°C (Ref. 12459); 47°N - 37°S, 98°W - 166°E (Ref. 12459)

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

Worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters, but absent in the eastern Pacific (Ref. 9739, 33390) and the Pacific Plate, except marginally (Ref. 10948). Western Atlantic: Canada (Ref. 5951) to Bermuda and Massachusetts, USA to Argentina (Ref. 7251), including the Gulf of Mexico (Ref. 9626) and entire Caribbean (Ref. 26938). Eastern Atlantic: Morocco to South Africa. Indo-West Pacific: East Africa (Ref. 2871, 5213, 6644, 30573) and Hokkaido, Japan to Australia.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ?, range 43 - ? cm
Max length : 200 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 10790); common length : 110 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3487); max. published weight: 68.0 kg (Ref. 7251); max. reported age: 15 years (Ref. 9739)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 7 - 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 26 - 33; Anal spines: 2 - 3; Anal soft rays: 22 - 28. This species is distinguished by the following characters: head broad and depressed; first dorsal fin usually with VIII short but strong isolated spines, not connected by a membrane; caudal fin lunate to emarginate in adults, upper lobe longer than lower, rounded in young with prolonged central rays. Colour of back and sides dark brown, with 2 sharply defined narrow silvery bands, belly yellowish (Ref. 10948, 90102).

Adults occur in a variety of habitats, over mud, sand and gravel bottoms; over coral reefs, off rocky shores (Ref. 10948) and in mangrove sloughs; inshore around pilings and buoys, and offshore around drifting and stationary objects; occasionally in estuaries (Ref. 9739). Form small groups and may pursue small pelagic inshore (Ref. 48635). Feed on crabs, fishes, and squids (Ref. 5213, 10948, 13442). Form spawning aggregations during the warm months in the western Atlantic; eggs and larvae planktonic (Ref. 12459). Caught in small quantities due to its solitary behavior (Ref. 9626). Caught mainly with handlines, and by trolling pelagically offshore over the continental shelf (Ref. 10948). Good food fish; marketed fresh (Ref. 5284), smoked, and frozen (Ref. 9987). Also caught for sport (Ref. 26938).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Form spawning aggregations during the warm months in the western Atlantic; eggs and larvae planktonic (Ref. 12459).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Shaffer, R.V. and E.L. Nakamura, 1989. Synopsis of biological data on the cobia Rachycentron canadum (Pisces: Rachycentridae). NOAA Tech. Rep. NMFS 82, FAO Fisheries Synopsis 153. (Ref. 9739)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 21 August 2012

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes

FAO(Aquaculture systems: production, species profile; Fisheries: production; publication : search) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 8.1 - 19.8, mean 12.9 (based on 1010 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 1.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00479 (0.00347 - 0.00661), b=3.11 (3.02 - 3.20), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 4.0 ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.09-0.22; tm=2-3; tmax=15).

Prior r = 0.58, 95% CL = 0.38 - 0.87, Based on 2 full stock assessments.

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Moderate vulnerability (42 of 100).

Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649): High vulnerability (62 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): High.

Rachycentron canadum (Linnaeus, 1766)