Cocinero
Encyclopedia
The cocinero, Caranx vinctus (also known as the barred jack and striped jack), is a species
of small marine
fish
classified in the jack family, Carangidae
. The cocinero is distributed through the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean
, ranging along the west American coastline from Baja California
in the north to Peru
in the south. It is a pelagic species, inhabiting the upper water column in both coastal and offshore
oceanic waters, occasionally making its way into estuaries. The species may be identified by its colouration, having 8 or 9 incomplete dark vertical stripes on its sides, with scute
and gill raker
counts also diagnostic. It is small compared to most other species of Caranx, reaching a length of 37 cm in total. The cocinero is a predatory fish, taking small fishes, crustacean
s, as well as various benthic invertebrates in shallower waters. Little is known of the species reproductive habits. The cocinero is of moderate importance to fisheries along the west coast of South America, and the species has been used in aquaculture
trials. It is taken by various netting methods and by spear, and is sold fresh, dried and salted at market.
, 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
, a group of percoid
fishes in the order Perciformes
.
The species was first scientifically described by the American ichthyologists David Starr Jordan
and Charles Henry Gilbert
in 1882 based on a specimen taken off Sinaloa, Mexico, which became the holotype
. They named the new species Caranx vinctus, with the specific epithet of Latin
origin meaning 'bound' or 'laced', presumably a description of the species vertical striping. The species has been variably placed in either Caranx or Carangoides ever since, with a recent molecular phylogeny
study indicating the species is most closely related to other species of Caranx. The species was later transferred to the now defunct genus Xurel by Jordan
and Evermann, who created the genus. Xurel was later synonymised with Carangoides and thus the species placed in Carangoides under this classification. A species by the name was of Caranx fasciatus was created by Georges Cuvier
in 1833, which was based on a sketch of a specimen taken from 'American waters'. The sketch may be of Caranx vinctus, however it is not anatomically detailed, and the species is rendered a nomen dubium
. The species common name
, cocinero, is the Spanish word for 'cook' or 'chef', with 'barred jack' and 'striped jack' also occasionally used.
is in two distinct parts, the first consisting of 8 spines while the second has 1 spine and 22 or 24 soft rays. The anal fin consists of 2 detached spines anteriorly followed by 1 spine and 18 to 21 soft rays, with the lobes of both fins only slightly extended.
The lateral line
has a strong anterior curve, with the straight section containing 0 to 4 scales
and 46 to 53 strong scute
s. The breast area is fully scaled. The eyes have a slightly developed posterior adipose eyelid , while the upper jaw
contains an outer row of strong canines
and an inner band of villiform teeth, while the lower jaw has only a single row of canine teeth. There are 39 to 44 gill rakers in total and 25 vertebrae in the species.
The cocinero is a dusky blue dorsally, fading to a silvery white ventral surface, often with golden-green reflections when fresh. There are 8 or 9 incomplete dark vertical bars on the side, and an obvious dark spot on the upper operculum
. Juveniles are much paler, with the dark vertical bars more pronounced, and having dusky to dark fins. The pectoral, pelvic and spinous dorsal fin are hyaline
to dusky, while the second dorsal fin is yellow distally. The caudal and anal fins are yellow to dusky yellow.
. The species ranges along the American coastline from Baja California
in the north to Peru
in the south, possibly including the Gulf of California
.
The cocinero is pelagic in nature, inhabiting the top 40 m of the water column in both offshore
oceanic waters and inshore coastal waters. The species has been observed in estuaries and tidal mangrove
zones in inshore waters. Like many Pacific species, the abundance of cocinero in fishery catches appears to be correlated with the effects of El Nino and La Nina
weather events. During 'normal' years, the species becomes more abundant in the tropical (June–December) season, while during the El Nino and La Nina events, it changes to the January–May period.
s, as well as various benthic invertebrate
s in shallower waters. Cage studies in less than optimal estuarine water conditions found the cocinero has a daily growth rate of between 0.37 and 0.55 g/day, with this noted as being much slower as some Indo-pacific
carangids. The authors of this study concluded this was partly due to the water being polluted with hydrocarbon
s, and less than optimal fodder being given.
The species is of moderate important to the western Central
and South America
n fisheries, being taken predominantly by various net methods. Individual catch statistics are not kept for the species, instead it is lumped with other species of Caranx. The species is sold fresh, salted and dried. Caged aquaculture
studies have been conducted, although poor production was observed due to reasons explained above. The species was found to have a low mortality rate
, and was seemingly unaffected by parasites or diseases during the trial. The cocinero is also considered a gamefish, taken by line and spear.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of small marine
Marine (ocean)
Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...
fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
classified in the jack family, Carangidae
Carangidae
Carangidae is a family of fish which includes the jacks, pompanos, jack mackerels, and scads.They are marine fish found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans...
. The cocinero is distributed through the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
, ranging along the west American coastline from Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
in the north to Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
in the south. It is a pelagic species, inhabiting the upper water column in both coastal and offshore
Shore
A shore or shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In Physical Oceanography a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past and present, while the beach is at the edge of the shore,...
oceanic waters, occasionally making its way into estuaries. The species may be identified by its colouration, having 8 or 9 incomplete dark vertical stripes on its sides, with scute
Scute
A scute or scutum is a bony external plate or scale, as on the shell of a turtle, the skin of crocodilians, the feet of some birds or the anterior portion of the mesonotum in insects.-Properties:...
and gill raker
Gill raker
Gill rakers in fish are bony or cartilaginous processes that project from the branchial arch and are involved with filter feeding tiny prey. They are not to be confused with the gill filaments that compose the bony part of the gill. Rakers are usually present in two rows, projecting from both the...
counts also diagnostic. It is small compared to most other species of Caranx, reaching a length of 37 cm in total. The cocinero is a predatory fish, taking small fishes, crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s, as well as various benthic invertebrates in shallower waters. Little is known of the species reproductive habits. The cocinero is of moderate importance to fisheries along the west coast of South America, and the species has been used in aquaculture
Aquaculture
Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the...
trials. It is taken by various netting methods and by spear, and is sold fresh, dried and salted at market.
Taxonomy and naming
The cocinero is classified within the genus CaranxCaranx
Caranx is a genus of tropical to subtropical marine fish in the jack family Carangidae, commonly known as jacks, trevallies and kingfishes. They are moderate to large sized, deep bodied fishes which are distinguished from other carangid genera by specific gill raker, fin ray and dentition...
, 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
Carangidae
Carangidae is a family of fish which includes the jacks, pompanos, jack mackerels, and scads.They are marine fish found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans...
, a group of percoid
Percoidei
Percoidei is one of eighteen suborders of bony fish in the order Perciformes. Many commercially harvested fish species are contained in this suborder, including the snappers, jacks, whitings, groupers, bass, perches and porgies.-Divisions:...
fishes in the order Perciformes
Perciformes
The Perciformes, also called the Percomorphi or Acanthopteri, is one of the largest orders of vertebrates, containing about 40% of all bony fish. Perciformes means perch-like. They belong to the class of ray-finned fish and comprise over 7,000 species found in almost all aquatic environments...
.
The species was first scientifically described by the American ichthyologists David Starr Jordan
David Starr Jordan
David Starr Jordan, Ph.D., LL.D. was a leading eugenicist, ichthyologist, educator and peace activist. He was president of Indiana University and Stanford University.-Early life and education:...
and Charles Henry Gilbert
Charles Henry Gilbert
Charles Henry Gilbert was a pioneer ichthyologist and fishery biologist of particular significance to natural history of the western United States. He collected and studied fishes from Central America north to Alaska and described many new species...
in 1882 based on a specimen taken off Sinaloa, Mexico, which became the holotype
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...
. They named the new species Caranx vinctus, with the specific epithet of Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
origin meaning 'bound' or 'laced', presumably a description of the species vertical striping. The species has been variably placed in either Caranx or Carangoides ever since, with a recent molecular phylogeny
Molecular phylogeny
Molecular phylogenetics is the analysis of hereditary molecular differences, mainly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. The result of a molecular phylogenetic analysis is expressed in a phylogenetic tree...
study indicating the species is most closely related to other species of Caranx. The species was later transferred to the now defunct genus Xurel by Jordan
David Starr Jordan
David Starr Jordan, Ph.D., LL.D. was a leading eugenicist, ichthyologist, educator and peace activist. He was president of Indiana University and Stanford University.-Early life and education:...
and Evermann, who created the genus. Xurel was later synonymised with Carangoides and thus the species placed in Carangoides under this classification. A species by the name was of Caranx fasciatus was created by Georges Cuvier
Georges Cuvier
Georges Chrétien Léopold Dagobert Cuvier or Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric Cuvier , known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist...
in 1833, which was based on a sketch of a specimen taken from 'American waters'. The sketch may be of Caranx vinctus, however it is not anatomically detailed, and the species is rendered a nomen dubium
Nomen dubium
In zoological nomenclature, a nomen dubium is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application...
. The species common name
Common name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...
, cocinero, is the Spanish word for 'cook' or 'chef', with 'barred jack' and 'striped jack' also occasionally used.
Description
The cocinero is a relatively small species in comparison with most species of Caranx, reaching a known length of 37 cm. The species has a fairly similar body profile to the members of this genus, having a relatively deep, compressed ovate form, although its body is slightly more elongated than the other species. The dorsal profile is slightly more convex than the ventral profile, particularly anteriorly, with the snout slightly pointed. The dorsal finDorsal fin
A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of various unrelated marine and freshwater vertebrates, including most fishes, marine mammals , and the ichthyosaurs...
is in two distinct parts, the first consisting of 8 spines while the second has 1 spine and 22 or 24 soft rays. The anal fin consists of 2 detached spines anteriorly followed by 1 spine and 18 to 21 soft rays, with the lobes of both fins only slightly extended.
The lateral line
Lateral line
The lateral line is a sense organ in aquatic organisms , used to detect movement and vibration in the surrounding water. Lateral lines are usually visible as faint lines running lengthwise down each side, from the vicinity of the gill covers to the base of the tail...
has a strong anterior curve, with the straight section containing 0 to 4 scales
Scale (zoology)
In most biological nomenclature, a scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection. In lepidopteran species, scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, and provide coloration...
and 46 to 53 strong scute
Scute
A scute or scutum is a bony external plate or scale, as on the shell of a turtle, the skin of crocodilians, the feet of some birds or the anterior portion of the mesonotum in insects.-Properties:...
s. The breast area is fully scaled. The eyes have a slightly developed posterior adipose eyelid , while the upper jaw
Jaw
The jaw is any opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term jaws is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth and serving to open and close it and is part of the body plan of...
contains an outer row of strong canines
Canine tooth
In mammalian oral anatomy, the canine teeth, also called cuspids, dogteeth, fangs, or eye teeth, are relatively long, pointed teeth...
and an inner band of villiform teeth, while the lower jaw has only a single row of canine teeth. There are 39 to 44 gill rakers in total and 25 vertebrae in the species.
The cocinero is a dusky blue dorsally, fading to a silvery white ventral surface, often with golden-green reflections when fresh. There are 8 or 9 incomplete dark vertical bars on the side, and an obvious dark spot on the upper operculum
Operculum (fish)
The operculum of a bony fish is the hard bony flap covering and protecting the gills. In most fish, the rear edge of the operculum roughly marks the division between the head and the body....
. Juveniles are much paler, with the dark vertical bars more pronounced, and having dusky to dark fins. The pectoral, pelvic and spinous dorsal fin are hyaline
Hyaline
The term hyaline denotes a substance with a glass-like appearance.-Histopathology:In histopathological medical usage, a hyaline substance appears glassy and pink after being stained with haematoxylin and eosin — usually it is an acellular, proteinaceous material...
to dusky, while the second dorsal fin is yellow distally. The caudal and anal fins are yellow to dusky yellow.
Distribution and habitat
The cocinero is distributed through the tropical and subtropical waters of the eastern Pacific OceanPacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. The species ranges along the American coastline from Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
in the north to Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
in the south, possibly including the Gulf of California
Gulf of California
The Gulf of California is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland...
.
The cocinero is pelagic in nature, inhabiting the top 40 m of the water column in both offshore
Shore
A shore or shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In Physical Oceanography a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past and present, while the beach is at the edge of the shore,...
oceanic waters and inshore coastal waters. The species has been observed in estuaries and tidal mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
zones in inshore waters. Like many Pacific species, the abundance of cocinero in fishery catches appears to be correlated with the effects of El Nino and La Nina
La Niña
La Niña is a coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon that is the counterpart of El Niño as part of the broader El Niño-Southern Oscillation climate pattern. During a period of La Niña, the sea surface temperature across the equatorial Eastern Central Pacific Ocean will be lower than normal by 3–5 °C...
weather events. During 'normal' years, the species becomes more abundant in the tropical (June–December) season, while during the El Nino and La Nina events, it changes to the January–May period.
Biology and fishery
Little is known about the biology of the cocinero, with only the broad diet and short term growth rates studied. The species is predatory, taking small fish and crustaceanCrustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s, as well as various benthic invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s in shallower waters. Cage studies in less than optimal estuarine water conditions found the cocinero has a daily growth rate of between 0.37 and 0.55 g/day, with this noted as being much slower as some Indo-pacific
Indo-Pacific
The Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region of the Earth's seas, comprising the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two in the general area of Indonesia...
carangids. The authors of this study concluded this was partly due to the water being polluted with hydrocarbon
Hydrocarbon
In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons from which one hydrogen atom has been removed are functional groups, called hydrocarbyls....
s, and less than optimal fodder being given.
The species is of moderate important to the western Central
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
n fisheries, being taken predominantly by various net methods. Individual catch statistics are not kept for the species, instead it is lumped with other species of Caranx. The species is sold fresh, salted and dried. Caged aquaculture
Aquaculture
Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the...
studies have been conducted, although poor production was observed due to reasons explained above. The species was found to have a low mortality rate
Mortality rate
Mortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths in a population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit time...
, and was seemingly unaffected by parasites or diseases during the trial. The cocinero is also considered a gamefish, taken by line and spear.