Caranx bartholomaei
Yellow Jack
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Carangidae (Jacks)
Caranx
Caranx bartholomaei (Yellow Jack)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Elongate and moderately compressed body; relatively long snout; relatively long second dorsal fin; bony scutes on straight portion of lateral line; dorsal profile of head evenly convex; adipose eyelid; maxilla not extending to anterior margin of eye; jaw teeth in narrow bands with outer row enlarged and recurved; preopercular margin smooth in specimens >40 mm SL; 6-9 lathlike gill rakers on upper limb and 18-21 on lower limb; 7 branchiostegal rays; falcate pectoral fin with 20 or 21 rays; first dorsal fin with 8 spines; second dorsal fin with 1 spine and 25-28 rays; anal fin with 2 free spines followed by 1 spine and 21-24 rays; chest scaled; lateral line with 91-114 scales, including 22-28 scutes; caudal peduncle with 2 keels; 24 vertebrae (10 precaudal, 14 caudal)
Pale greenish blue dorsally and silvery with a yellowish cast ventrally; juveniles with 5 vertical bars on body
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Massachusetts and Bermuda to Brazil, including the northern and southern Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Antilles
Habitat Associations
Reefs along the outer continental and insular shelves; depth range not specified
Juveniles associated with jellyfishes, rafts of Sargassum weed, and mangrove-lined lagoons
Biology
Mostly benthic ray-finned fishes
Maximum known size is about 90 cm FL
Adults prefer offshore reefs (Ref. 9710) and open marine waters (Ref. 26938). Juveniles often found near the shore on seagrass beds or often associated jellyfish or floating Sargassum (Ref. 5217). Generally solitary but sometimes seen in small groups (Ref. 26235). They feed on small fishes (Ref. 26235). Spawning occurs offshore from February to October (Ref. 26938). Flavor considered fair to good (Ref. 5521).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-08-20. Resilience: High (Fec > 7 million eggs).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish.
References
Berry 1959
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968
Randall 1968a
Randall 1996 (as Carangoides bartholomaei)
Hoese and Moore 1977
Hoese and Moore 1998
Castro-Aguirre and Márquez-Espinoza 1981
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Cervigón 1993a
Schaldach et al. 1997
Smith 1997
Castro-Aguirre et al. 1999
Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999
Smith-Vaniz 2002c
Randall, J.E. (1967) Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. Miami 5:665-847.
Berry, F.H. and W.F. Smith-Vaniz (1978) Carangidae. In W. Fischer (ed.) FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. West Atlantic (Fishing Area 31). volume 1. FAO, Rome. [var. pag.].
Cervigón, F., R. Cipriani, W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, M. Hendrickx, A.J. Lemus, R. Márquez, J.M. Poutiers, G. Robaina and B. Rodriguez (1992) Fichas FAO de identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca. Guía de campo de las especies comerciales marinas y de aquas salobres de la costa septentrional de Sur América. FAO, Rome. 513 p. Preparado con el financiamento de la Comisión de Comunidades Europeas y de NORAD.
Cervigón, F. (1993) Los peces marinos de Venezuela. Volume 2. Fundación Científica Los Roques, Caracas,Venezuela. 497 p.
Lieske, E. and R. Myers (1994) Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 p.
Randall, J.E. (1996) Caribbean reef fishes. Third Edition - revised and enlarged. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd., Hong Kong. 3nd ed. 368 p.
Sierra, L.M., R. Claro and O.A. Popova (1994) Alimentacion y relaciones tróficas. p. 263-284. In Rodolfo Claro (ed.) Ecología de los Peces Marinos de Cuba. Instituto de Oceanología Academia de Ciencias de Cuba and Centro de Investigaciones de Quintana Roo, Mexico.
Smith, C.L. (1997) National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
Gross, M.R. and R. Shine (1981) Parental care and mode of fertilization in ectothermic vertebrates. Evolution 35(4):775-793.
Comments On Caranx bartholomaei