FISH FACTS
FISH FACTS
A: That’s a really nice trevally. It’s
definitely a member of the diamond
trevally genus, Alectis, but it’s hard
to tell whether it’s A. ciliaris (a pennant
fish or African pompano) or A. indicus (a
diamond trevally or Indian threadfish).
Both species can reach at least 48 pounds,
and both are found in Australian waters.
You can distinguish them only by minor
differences in their dorsal-fin rays and by
gill-raker counts. If I had to provide an
answer using only this image, I’d say it’s
A. indicus, based on the shape of its forehead (which is more vertical than in A.
ciliaris) and the lack of faint vertical
bands on its flanks near the anal fin,
which can sometimes persist even in large
diamond trevally. Both species’ juveniles
have the long, distinctive filaments trailing from dorsal and anal fins that gave
the pennant fish its name, and both
species lose the filaments as they grow into
adulthood. — Ben Diggles
Q: As an avid fisherman who lives in
the Golden Gate area of California,
I’m curious what makes the flesh of
salmon and steelhead trout orange. Also, why
do lingcod and cabezon have bluish-green
flesh? I’ve caught all these species and would.
A: The color in salmon and steelhead
meat comes from carotenoids, the
red pigments found in krill, one of
their primary foods. If you feed salmon
something that does not contain
carotenoids, the muscle appears whitish.
However, there is also a genetic component. Some Chinook salmon are white,
even though they eat krill. This implies that
there has to be a gene that allows the
carotenoids to turn the muscle pink or red.
The color of cabezon and lingcod is still
something of a mystery. It might come from
their food — crabs, a major part of the
cabezon diet, have blue blood. On the
other hand, crabs are not that important to
lingcod. Genetics may also play a part, but
no one knows for sure. However, with these
species, the greenish color cooks out to pure
white, and it in no way affects the flavor of
the fish; with salmon, the pinkish color
remains. — Milton Love
Q: Last fall I was drifting for tuna
and swordfish in 500 fathoms
south of The Dip, located 70 miles
southeast of Shinnecock Inlet, Long
Island, on the hundred-fathom line of an
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