Almaco Jack (Seriola rivoliana)

A deep-bodied amberjack and a member of the Carangidae family, the almaco jack is an excellent and widely distributed sportfish. It is a fine food fish, although it sometimes has tapeworms in the caudal peduncle area, which can be cut away, and it has been associated with ciguatera poisoning in the Caribbean.

Identification

The body and the fins can be a uniform dark brown, a dark bluish-green, or a metallic bronze or gray, with the lower sides and the belly a lighter shade, sometimes with a lavender or brassy cast. A diagonal black band usually extends from the lip through each eye to the upper back at the beginning of the dorsal fin; young fish sometimes display five or six bars.

Bar Jack (Caranx ruber)

A member of the Carangidae family, the bar jack is small and more like a saltwater panfish, but it is a scrappy species and a good food fish.

Identification

The bar jack is silvery, with a dark bluish stripe on the back that runs from the beginning of the soft dorsal fin and onto the lower tail fin. Sometimes there is also a pale-blue stripe immediately beneath the black stripe that extends forward onto the snout. The bar jack bears a resemblance to the blue runner but has fewer and less prominent large scales along the caudal peduncle than the blue runner does. The bar jack has 26 to 30 soft rays in the dorsal fin and 31 to 35 gill rakers on the lower limb of the first arch. When feeding near bottom, it can darken almost to black.

Crevalle Jack

These two members of the Carangidae family are almost identical in appearance and were formerly thought to be the same species.

Identification

Both species are bluish-green to greenish-gold on the back and silvery or yellowish on the belly. They are compressed, and the deep body has a high, rounded profile, as well as a large mouth. The tail and the anal fin may be yellowish, and the ends of the dorsal fin and the upper tail are occasionally black.

Horse-eye Jack (Caranx latus)

Like other jack species, the horse-eye is a member of the Carangidae family and a strong-fighting fish suitable for light-tackle angling. Unlike some jacks, it is not highly esteemed as a food fish, although the quality of horse-eye jack meat can be improved by cutting off the tail and bleeding the fish directly after it is caught. This and other jacks have been implicated in cases of ciguatera poisoning.

Identification

The horse-eye jack is silvery, with yellow
tail fins and usually dark edges on the dorsal and the upper tail fin. There is often a small black spot at the upper end of the gill cover, and it usually has blackish scutes. The body is compressed, and the entire chest is scaly. There are 20 to 22 soft rays in the dorsal fin and 14 to 18 gill rakers on the lower limb of the first arch.

Yellow Jack (Caranx bartholomaei)

This small and spunky member of the Carangidae family is an occasional catch by anglers. Its flesh is considered fair to good eating.

Identification

Silvery with a yellow cast, the yellow jack has a bluish back and strongly yellow sides, which grow even more strikingly yellow after the fish dies. The fins are also yellowish, as is the tail. It lacks the black spot near the gill cover that the similar horse-eye jack has, and it has a less steep head. There are 25 to 28 soft rays in the dorsal fin and 18 to 21 gill rakers on the lower limb of the first arch. Young fish are more brassy in color and have many pale spots.