Yellowtail amberjack

The yellowtail amberjack or great amberjack, Seriola lalandi, is a large fish found in the Pacific and Indian oceans. It can be divided into three sub-species:

• The California yellowtail, Seriola lalandi dorsalis;
• the southern yellowtail, or in New Zealand and Australia the yellowtail kingfish or kingfish^[1] , Seriola lalandi lalandi;
• and the Asian yellowtail, Seriola lalandi aureovitta.

Contents 1 California yellowtail 1.1 Diet 1.2 Range and habitat 1.3 Conservation status 2 Yellowtail kingfish 2.1 Culture 3 Asian yellowtail 4 References

California yellowtail

The California Yellowtail is a species of ray-finned fish of the family Carangidae. This species is also known by several alternate names, such as amberjack, forktail, mossback, and white salmon.^[2]

Diet

The California Yellowtail is carnivorous and feeds on a variety of fish. Mackerel, sardines, anchovies, squid, and crab are common in the yellowtail's diet.^[3] Often, the California Yellowtail are found in schools feeding at the surface of the water, as well as deeper down. This species prefers a water temperature of 21–22 °C (70–72 °F), though have also been found in waters between 18–24 °C (64–75 °F).^[4] Temperatures cooler than 18° would make the Yellowtail sink into deeper waters to conserve energy.

Range and habitat

The yellowtail's range is circumglobal, in subtropical waters. The yellowtail can be found near Catalina Island, San Clemente Island, Santa Monica Bay, as well as in Mexican waters like Baja California Peninsula´s and Sea of Cortes. Yellowtail populations have also been found in waters off South Africa, the Walter Shoals, Amsterdam Island, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Hawaii, Rapa, Pitcairn Island, and Easter Island. In the Eastern Pacific they can be found in waters off of British Columbia, as well as from Canada to Chile^[5] They usually found around offshore islands, rocky reefs, and kelp beds.^[2]

Conservation status

The Yellowtail was common in waters around California and Mexico, but has recently been overfished by Japanese fishing ships. Overfishing is becoming more of a problem as fishers move from areas in which this fish has become scarce to United States' waters in search of this fish. They spawn in warm waters 100–300 miles away from the Californian coast and return in May or June until September or December. They spawn slowly but may live up to and in excess of 30 years. One major spawning ground is at Cedros Island. Spawning usually begins at three years old. Yellowtail are aggressive towards other fish. They will often feed more frequently during spawning, which makes an easy target for commercial fishers. They are currently not on the list of endangered animals.

Yellowtail kingfish

The yellowtail kingfish or southern kingfish, Seriola lalandi lalandi, is a subspecies of yellowtail amberjack, a jack of the genus Seriola, found off south eastern Australia and the north east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. Very little is known of the kingfish's biology, including their habitat preferences throughout juvenile life stages, migration patterns and wild reproductive behaviour. Maximum length is often reported to reach up to 180 cm. Kingfish can be eaten in a variety of ways, including barbecuing, sashimi, and drying.

Culture

Seriola lalandi have been established as a suitable candidate for marine aquaculture. In contrast to the culture of S. quinqueradiata (which has been cultured extensively in Japan), juveniles of S. lalandi are not easily available from the wild and juveniles are produced in hatcheries from captive breeding stock. The Stehr Group in South Australia is presently (2010) the largest producer of cultured S. lalandi in the world. There have been some attempts to culture the species in New Zealand, both in seacages and a large land based system at Parengarenga (northern New Zealand). Chile is currently trialling seacage and land based farming methods. Most cultured S. lalandi is sold to the Japanese restaurant market for consumption as sashimi.

Asian yellowtail

References

• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2005). "Seriola lalandi" in FishBase. 10 2005 version.
• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Seriola lalandi" in FishBase. January 2006 version.
• "Seriola lalandi". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=168695. 
• Yellowtail amberjack at the Encyclopedia of Life
• Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8
• Yellowtail kingfish biology http://www.microcosmofscience.com