Kingfish

Name

Kingfish or Travelies (Carangidae)

Alias

Jacks

Size

Kingfish measure 70 cm on average, but can be as long as 1.7 m.

Identification

Kingfish have streamlines bodies that are flattened from both sides. The base of their tails are narrow, and the tail is deeply forked. The end of its lateral line becomes a spiny structure, or scute. They are silver in colour, differing in fin colour and spots.

General Information

Kingfish are a part of the Carangidae family which comprises of 33 genera and 140 species. They can be found in big schools and travel great distances. They dig for food in the sand, at times, but are streamlined hunters and can on the edges of reefs. They are pelagic spawners.

Feeding

Kingfish feed predominantly on fish, but sometimes eat molluscs and invertebrates.

Distribution

They can be found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Common Species

Bigeye kingfish (Caranx sexfasciatus)
Bluefin kingfish (Caranx melampygus)
Giant kingfish (Caranx ignobilis)