Crevalle jack 



Caranx hippos 

 Adult 



10 cm 



(from Goode 1884) 



Common Name: crevalle jack 



Scientific Name: Caranx hippos 



Other Common Names: jack, common jack, yellowtail 



jack, hardtail jack, amber jack, crevalle, jack crevalle, 



runner, Jenny Lind, rudder fish (Hildebrand and 



Schroeder 1928, Reid 1955, Springer and Woodburn 



1960, Gunter and Hall 1963, Gunter and Hall 1965); 



carangue crevalle (French), jure! comun (Spanish) 



(Fischer 1978, NOAA 1985). 



Classification (Robins et al. 1991) 



Phylum: Chordata 



Class: Osteichthyes 



Order: Perciformes 



Family: Carangidae 



Value 



Commercial : The meat of this fish is generally consid- 

 ered to be medium quality, and is therefore not particu- 

 larly sought by commercial fishermen. The commer- 

 cial fishery in the U.S. portion of the Gulf of Mexico is 

 primarily in western Florida, where they are caught 

 mostly by haul seine and gillnet, but also by purse 

 seine, handline, and trolling. In Venezuela, it is caught 

 mainly by purse seines, handlines, "mandingas," and 

 traps. If is commonly found in Panama markets where 

 it is esteemed as a food fish and brings a good price 

 (Benson 1 982, Hildebrand and Schroeder 1 928, Fischer 

 1978, Johnson et al. 1985). 



Recreational : An estimated 1,725,000 crevalle jacks 

 were caught by recreational fishermen in the Gulf of 

 Mexico during 1991 (Van Voorhees et al. 1992). The 

 crevalle jack is known for its hard fighting ability and 

 many anglers enjoy this challenging fish, but it is 

 regarded as a nuisance by some since it takes consid- 

 erable time to land on light tackle (Tabb and Manning 



1 961 , Hoese and Moore 1 977, Benson 1 982). Despite 

 general opinion, it can be very good when properly 

 prepared and cooked (Johnson et al. 1 985). This is the 

 most common of the large carangid fishes caught by 

 recreational fisherman on the west coast of Florida 

 (Reid 1954). 



Indicator of Environmental Stress : The crevalle jack is 

 not typically used in studies of environmental stress. 



Ecological : This is a large, pelagic carnivore that preys 

 mainly on other fish (Hildebrand and Schroeder 1 928, 

 Breuer 1949, Perret et al. 1971, Swingle and Bland 

 1974). 



Range 



Overall : The range for this species includes the west- 

 ern Atlantic from Nova Scotia to Uruguay, and tropical 

 and temperate waters around the world, primarily in 

 shallow continental waters. There is one record only 

 from the Bahamas and a few from the West Indies, 

 where it is probably uncommon. It is relatively more 

 common in the northern part of its range (Hildebrand 

 and Schroeder 1928, Bigelow and Schroeder 1953, 

 Berry 1959, Hoese and Moore 1977, Fischer 1978, 

 Johnson 1978). 



Within Study Area : This jack is present throughout the 

 Gulf of Mexico. It is common in Texas and Louisiana 

 waters and parts of the west coast of Florida (Hoese 

 and Moore 1977, Fischer 1978) (Table 5.28). 



Life Mode 



This is a large pelagic fish common in offshore waters. 

 It is most active during the day in the upper water 

 column. Both adults and juveniles are schooling, but 



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