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Giant trevally
The giant trevally (Caranx ignobilis), also known as the lowly trevally, barrier trevally, giant kingfish, or ulua, is a species of large marine fish classified in the jack family, Carangidae. The giant trevally is distributed throughout the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific region, with a range stretching from South Africa to Hawaii, including Japan in the north and Australia in the south.
The giant trevally is distinguished by its steep head profile, strong tail scutes, and a variety of other more detailed anatomical features. It is normally a silvery colour with occasional dark spots, but males may be black once they mature. It is the largest fish in the genus Caranx, growing to a maximum known size of 170 cm (67 in) and a weight of 80 kg (176 lb). The giant trevally inhabits a wide range of marine environments, from estuaries, shallow bays, and lagoons as a juvenile to deeper reefs, offshore atolls, and large embayments as an adult. Juveniles of the species are known to live in waters of very low salinity such as coastal lakes and upper reaches of rivers, and tend to prefer turbid waters.
The giant trevally is an apex predator in most of its habitats, and is known to hunt individually and in schools. The species predominantly takes various fish as prey, although crustaceans, cephalopods, and molluscs make up a considerable part of their diets in some regions. Their novel hunting strategies include shadowing monk seals to pick off escaping prey, using sharks to ambush prey, and leaping to catch birds.
The giant trevally reproduces in the warmer months, with peaks differing by region. Spawning occurs at specific stages of the lunar cycle, when large schools congregate to spawn over reefs and bays, with reproductive behaviour observed in the wild. The fish grow relatively fast, reaching sexual maturity at a length around 60 cm at three years of age.
The giant trevally is both an important species to commercial fisheries and a recognised gamefish, with the species taken by nets and lines by professionals and by bait and lures by anglers. Catch statistics in the Asian region show hauls of 4,000–10,000 tonnes, while around 10,000 lb of the species are taken in Hawaii each year. The species is considered poor to excellent table fare by different authors, although ciguatera poisoning is common from eating the fish. Dwindling numbers around the main Hawaiian Islands have also led to several proposals to reduce the catch of fish in this region.
The giant trevally is classified within the genus Caranx, one of a number of groups known as the jacks or trevallies. Caranx itself is part of the larger jack and horse mackerel family Carangidae, which in turn is part of the order Carangiformes.
The giant trevally was first scientifically described by Swedish naturalist Peter Forsskål in 1775 based on specimens taken from the Red Sea off both Yemen and Saudi Arabia, with one of these designated to be the holotype. He named the species Scomber ignobilis, with the specific epithet Latin for "unknown", "obscure" or "ignoble". It was assigned to the mackerel genus Scomber, where many carangids were placed before they were classified as a separate family. This later revision in classification saw the species moved to the genus Caranx, where it has remained. Even after its initial description, the giant trevally (and the bigeye trevally) were often confused with the Atlantic crevalle jack, Caranx hippos, due to their superficial similarity, which led to some authors claiming the crevalle jack had a circumtropical distribution. After Forsskål's initial description and naming, the species was independently renamed three times as Caranx lessonii, Caranx ekala and Carangus hippoides, all of which are now considered invalid junior synonyms. The latter of these names once again highlighted the similarity with the crevalle jack, with the epithet hippoides essentially meaning "like Carangus hippos", which was the crevalle jack's Latin name at that time. Despite the resemblance with the crevalle jack, the two species have never been phylogenetically compared, either morphologically or genetically, to determine their relationship.[citation needed]
C. ignobilis is most commonly referred to as the giant trevally (or giant kingfish) due to its large maximum size, with this often abbreviated to simply GT by many anglers. Other names occasionally used include lowly trevally, barrier trevally, yellowfin jack (not to be confused with Hemicaranx leucurus), Forsskål's Indo-Pacific jack fish and Goyan fish. In Hawaii, the species is almost exclusively referred to as ulua, often in conjunction with the prefixes black, white, or giant. Due to its wide distribution, many other names for the species in different languages are also used. In the Philippines, the species is referred to as talakitok. Some success has been achieved in raising giant trevally commercially in small fish farms there, typically to an age of seven months.[citation needed]
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Giant trevally
The giant trevally (Caranx ignobilis), also known as the lowly trevally, barrier trevally, giant kingfish, or ulua, is a species of large marine fish classified in the jack family, Carangidae. The giant trevally is distributed throughout the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific region, with a range stretching from South Africa to Hawaii, including Japan in the north and Australia in the south.
The giant trevally is distinguished by its steep head profile, strong tail scutes, and a variety of other more detailed anatomical features. It is normally a silvery colour with occasional dark spots, but males may be black once they mature. It is the largest fish in the genus Caranx, growing to a maximum known size of 170 cm (67 in) and a weight of 80 kg (176 lb). The giant trevally inhabits a wide range of marine environments, from estuaries, shallow bays, and lagoons as a juvenile to deeper reefs, offshore atolls, and large embayments as an adult. Juveniles of the species are known to live in waters of very low salinity such as coastal lakes and upper reaches of rivers, and tend to prefer turbid waters.
The giant trevally is an apex predator in most of its habitats, and is known to hunt individually and in schools. The species predominantly takes various fish as prey, although crustaceans, cephalopods, and molluscs make up a considerable part of their diets in some regions. Their novel hunting strategies include shadowing monk seals to pick off escaping prey, using sharks to ambush prey, and leaping to catch birds.
The giant trevally reproduces in the warmer months, with peaks differing by region. Spawning occurs at specific stages of the lunar cycle, when large schools congregate to spawn over reefs and bays, with reproductive behaviour observed in the wild. The fish grow relatively fast, reaching sexual maturity at a length around 60 cm at three years of age.
The giant trevally is both an important species to commercial fisheries and a recognised gamefish, with the species taken by nets and lines by professionals and by bait and lures by anglers. Catch statistics in the Asian region show hauls of 4,000–10,000 tonnes, while around 10,000 lb of the species are taken in Hawaii each year. The species is considered poor to excellent table fare by different authors, although ciguatera poisoning is common from eating the fish. Dwindling numbers around the main Hawaiian Islands have also led to several proposals to reduce the catch of fish in this region.
The giant trevally is classified within the genus Caranx, one of a number of groups known as the jacks or trevallies. Caranx itself is part of the larger jack and horse mackerel family Carangidae, which in turn is part of the order Carangiformes.
The giant trevally was first scientifically described by Swedish naturalist Peter Forsskål in 1775 based on specimens taken from the Red Sea off both Yemen and Saudi Arabia, with one of these designated to be the holotype. He named the species Scomber ignobilis, with the specific epithet Latin for "unknown", "obscure" or "ignoble". It was assigned to the mackerel genus Scomber, where many carangids were placed before they were classified as a separate family. This later revision in classification saw the species moved to the genus Caranx, where it has remained. Even after its initial description, the giant trevally (and the bigeye trevally) were often confused with the Atlantic crevalle jack, Caranx hippos, due to their superficial similarity, which led to some authors claiming the crevalle jack had a circumtropical distribution. After Forsskål's initial description and naming, the species was independently renamed three times as Caranx lessonii, Caranx ekala and Carangus hippoides, all of which are now considered invalid junior synonyms. The latter of these names once again highlighted the similarity with the crevalle jack, with the epithet hippoides essentially meaning "like Carangus hippos", which was the crevalle jack's Latin name at that time. Despite the resemblance with the crevalle jack, the two species have never been phylogenetically compared, either morphologically or genetically, to determine their relationship.[citation needed]
C. ignobilis is most commonly referred to as the giant trevally (or giant kingfish) due to its large maximum size, with this often abbreviated to simply GT by many anglers. Other names occasionally used include lowly trevally, barrier trevally, yellowfin jack (not to be confused with Hemicaranx leucurus), Forsskål's Indo-Pacific jack fish and Goyan fish. In Hawaii, the species is almost exclusively referred to as ulua, often in conjunction with the prefixes black, white, or giant. Due to its wide distribution, many other names for the species in different languages are also used. In the Philippines, the species is referred to as talakitok. Some success has been achieved in raising giant trevally commercially in small fish farms there, typically to an age of seven months.[citation needed]
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