Yellowspotted trevally
Encyclopedia
The yellowspotted trevally, Carangoides fulvoguttatus (also known as the goldspotted trevally and tarrum) is a widespread species
of large inshore marine
fish
in the jack family Carangidae
. The yellowspotted trevally inhabits the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-west Pacific
region, from South Africa
in the west to Japan
and Australia
in the east. The species is known to obtain a maximum length of at least 1.2 m, and is distinguished by gill raker
and fin morphology, as well as the distinctive golden spots which give the fish its name. The yellowspotted trevally generally prefers inshore rocky and coral
reef
s, but is occasionally found over deep offshore
sand banks to a depth of 100 m. It is a predatory fish, taking fish, cephalopod
s and crustacean
s, and shows diet partitioning with other trevallies in studies conducted in Australian waters. Reproduction is poorly studied, although observational evidence suggests spawning
occurs in aggregations, probably during summer in South Africa. It is generally of minor importance to commercial fisheries throughout its range, but is considered an excellent sportfish by anglers and spearfishermen
and a good table fish.
, a group of fish commonly known as jacks and trevallies. Carangoides falls into the jack and horse mackerel family Carangidae
, itself part the order Perciformes
, in the suborder Percoidei
.
The species was first described by the naturalist
Peter Forsskål
in 1775 based on the holotype
specimen taken from the waters of the Red Sea
. He named the species Scomber fulvoguttatus, relating the species to the true mackerel
s, as during this period the family Carangidae had yet to be established. The species was later transferred to Caranx
and then to Carangoides, where it has remained. The species was independently renamed a number of times, the first as Tarrum emburyi by Gilbert Percy Whitley
, a name which was commonly used and later transferred into Caranx and Carangoides. Some fifteen years later, Whitley again assigned the fish to a new species and genus name, Ferdauia claeszooni, but this genus was soon synonymised with Carangoides and this name, as well as Tarrum emburyi were shown to be junior synonyms of Carangoides fulvoguttatus. The common name
'Tarrum' is still used in Australia for the fish, but is also widely misapplied to similar species.
. The yellowspotted trevally has a body shape more like the jacks of the genus Caranx
, being more elongated and subcylindrical than most of the genus Carangoides. As a juvenile, the fish is more subovate, becoming more elongated with age, with the dorsal profile of the head and nape
becoming steeper with age also. The dorsal fin
is in two distinct parts, the first consisting of 8 spines while the second is composed of 1 spines and 25 to 30 soft rays, with the anterior lobe of this fin being shorter than the head length. The anal fin has two anteriorly detached spines followed by 1 spine attached to 21 to 26 soft rays and the pelvic fin has 1 spine and 18 to 19 soft rays. The lateral line
has a gentle anterior arch which is slightly longer than the straight section of the lateral line, with the intersection below the thirteenth to sixteenth soft ray of the dorsal fin. The curved section contains 80 to 88 scales
while the straight section consists of 12 to 17 scales and 26 to 31 scute
s. The breast is scaleless until the origin of the pelvic fins and up to the origin of the pectoral fins, although some individuals have a narrow band of scales separating the pectoral fins. In adults, the mouth cleft is directly beneath the eye, with the both jaw
s containing bands of villiform teeth. There are 22 to 27 gill raker
s in total and 24 vertebrae.
The juveniles of the yellowspotted trevally are uniformly silver with a few golden spots above the lateral line, with upper body becoming a more iridescent blue green with increasing age. At adulthood there are many small golden to brassy spots above the midline with large individuals also having 3 irregular, indistinct dark blotches on the flank. There is an inconspicuous dusky spot on the operculum
, and it may be completely absent. The dorsal and anal fins are dusky yellow, with the anal fin having a whitish blue leading edge and distal margin. The pectoral and caudal fins are olive yellow, becoming dusky at the edges, while the pelvic fin is whitish blue.
region. The species ranges from South Africa
in the west, north to the Red Sea and India
, and is distributed throughout South East Asia and the Indonesia
n island chain. Its range extends south to northern Australia
, north to Taiwan
and Japan
and as far east as Palau
, Tonga
and New Caledonia
in the Pacific.
The yellowspotted trevally predominantly inhabits inshore lagoon
s and rocky or coral reef
systems, although is occasionally found in seagrass
meadows, around offshore islands and on deep sand banks to depths of around 100 m. It is intolerant of low salinities and as such does not enter estuaries.
, with smaller groups often patrolling the edges of reefs in search of food and large solitary fish are known to patrol seagrass beds in search of prey. The species diet consists of small fish such as anchovies, a wide range of crustaceans including swimming crabs, mantis shrimp
and prawns as well as cephalopods such as squid
. Preliminary dietary information collected from the North West Shelf of Australia shows that C. fulvoguttatus and C. gymnostethus
inhabit very similar habitats, and are able to do so by partitioning their diet, with C. fulvoguttatus taking more fish and cephalopods while C. gymnostethus predominantly takes crustaceans. The only data on reproduction in the species comes from Palau, where large spawning
aggregations form in the third quarter of the lunar month
. Spawning takes place in South Africa over the summer.
The yellowspotted trevally is of moderate importance to fisheries throughout its range, although catch statistics are rarely kept for this species specifically. One exception is Saudi Arabia
, with the FAO
reporting a yearly catch of between 128 and 324 tonne
s between 2000 and 2004, with no apparent trends in the catch data. The species is taken by hook and line, gill nets and various traps. The yellowspotted trevally is also of major importance to angler
s and spearfishermen
in some countries, with the species highly valued in Australia and South Africa. Surveys of recreational catches in the Pilbara region of Western Australia
indicate around 5 tonnes of fish are taken every year, with around 3 tonnes kept for consumption or use as bait. Fish are mostly caught from boats using small baits including fish and crab, as well as lures
including minnows, metal slugs, soft plastic lures and even saltwater flies
. It is an excellent gamefish, with young fish also considered good table fish, becoming somewhat dry with age. The yellowspotted trevally is also considered a good candidate for aquaculture
in the future.
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 large inshore 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...
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 yellowspotted trevally inhabits the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-west 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...
region, from South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
in the west to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in the east. The species is known to obtain a maximum length of at least 1.2 m, and is distinguished by 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...
and fin morphology, as well as the distinctive golden spots which give the fish its name. The yellowspotted trevally generally prefers inshore rocky and coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
reef
Reef
In nautical terminology, a reef is a rock, sandbar, or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water ....
s, but is occasionally found over deep 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,...
sand banks to a depth of 100 m. It is a predatory fish, taking fish, cephalopod
Cephalopod
A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda . These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, and a set of arms or tentacles modified from the primitive molluscan foot...
s and 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, and shows diet partitioning with other trevallies in studies conducted in Australian waters. Reproduction is poorly studied, although observational evidence suggests spawning
Spawn (biology)
Spawn refers to the eggs and sperm released or deposited, usually into water, by aquatic animals. As a verb, spawn refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, also called spawning...
occurs in aggregations, probably during summer in South Africa. It is generally of minor importance to commercial fisheries throughout its range, but is considered an excellent sportfish by anglers and spearfishermen
Spearfishing
Spearfishing is an ancient method of fishing that has been used throughout the world for millennia. Early civilizations were familiar with the custom of spearing fish from rivers and streams using sharpened sticks....
and a good table fish.
Taxonomy and naming
The yellowspotted trevally is classified within the genus CarangoidesCarangoides
Carangoides is a genus of tropical to subtropical marine fishes in the jack family, Carangidae. They are small to large sized, deep bodied fish characterised by a certain gill raker and jaw morphology, often appearing very similar to jacks in the genus Caranx...
, a group of fish commonly known as jacks and trevallies. Carangoides falls into the 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...
, itself part 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...
, in the suborder Percoidei
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:...
.
The species was first described by the naturalist
Naturalist
Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
Peter Forsskål
Peter Forsskål
Peter Forsskål, sometimes spelled Pehr Forsskål, Peter Forskaol, Petrus Forskål or Pehr Forsskåhl, was a Swedish explorer, orientalist, naturalist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus.-Early life:...
in 1775 based on 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...
specimen taken from the waters of the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
. He named the species Scomber fulvoguttatus, relating the species to the true mackerel
Scomber
Scomber is a genus of ocean-dwelling mackerels in the family Scombridae.-Species:FishBase lists four species:* Blue mackerel, Scomber australasicus Cuvier, 1832.* Atlantic Chub Mackerel, Scomber colias Gmelin, 1789....
s, as during this period the family Carangidae had yet to be established. The species was later transferred to Caranx
Caranx
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...
and then to Carangoides, where it has remained. The species was independently renamed a number of times, the first as Tarrum emburyi by Gilbert Percy Whitley
Gilbert Percy Whitley
Gilbert Percy Whitley was a British-born Australian ichthyologist and malacologist who was Curator of Fishes at the Australian Museum in Sydney for about 40 years. He was born at Swaythling, Southampton, England, and was educated at King Edward VI School, Southampton and Osborne House...
, a name which was commonly used and later transferred into Caranx and Carangoides. Some fifteen years later, Whitley again assigned the fish to a new species and genus name, Ferdauia claeszooni, but this genus was soon synonymised with Carangoides and this name, as well as Tarrum emburyi were shown to be junior synonyms of Carangoides fulvoguttatus. The 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...
'Tarrum' is still used in Australia for the fish, but is also widely misapplied to similar species.
Description
The yellowspotted trevally is a large fish, growing to at least 1.2 m in length and reaching a recorded maximum weight of 18 kgKilogram
The kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...
. The yellowspotted trevally has a body shape more like the jacks of the genus Caranx
Caranx
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...
, being more elongated and subcylindrical than most of the genus Carangoides. As a juvenile, the fish is more subovate, becoming more elongated with age, with the dorsal profile of the head and nape
Nape
The nape is the back of the neck. In technical anatomical/medical terminology, the nape is referred to by the word nucha, which also gives the adjective corresponding to "nape" in English, "nuchal"....
becoming steeper with age also. The dorsal fin
Dorsal 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 is composed of 1 spines and 25 to 30 soft rays, with the anterior lobe of this fin being shorter than the head length. The anal fin has two anteriorly detached spines followed by 1 spine attached to 21 to 26 soft rays and the pelvic fin has 1 spine and 18 to 19 soft rays. 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 gentle anterior arch which is slightly longer than the straight section of the lateral line, with the intersection below the thirteenth to sixteenth soft ray of the dorsal fin. The curved section contains 80 to 88 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...
while the straight section consists of 12 to 17 scales and 26 to 31 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 is scaleless until the origin of the pelvic fins and up to the origin of the pectoral fins, although some individuals have a narrow band of scales separating the pectoral fins. In adults, the mouth cleft is directly beneath the eye, with the both 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...
s containing bands of villiform teeth. There are 22 to 27 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...
s in total and 24 vertebrae.
The juveniles of the yellowspotted trevally are uniformly silver with a few golden spots above the lateral line, with upper body becoming a more iridescent blue green with increasing age. At adulthood there are many small golden to brassy spots above the midline with large individuals also having 3 irregular, indistinct dark blotches on the flank. There is an inconspicuous dusky spot on the 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....
, and it may be completely absent. The dorsal and anal fins are dusky yellow, with the anal fin having a whitish blue leading edge and distal margin. The pectoral and caudal fins are olive yellow, becoming dusky at the edges, while the pelvic fin is whitish blue.
Distribution and habitat
The yellowspotted trevally is broadly distributed in tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-pacificIndo-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...
region. The species ranges from South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
in the west, north to the Red Sea and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, and is distributed throughout South East Asia and the Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n island chain. Its range extends south to northern Australia
Northern Australia
The term northern Australia is generally known to include two State and Territories, being Queensland and the Northern Territory . The part of Western Australia north of latitude 26° south—a definition widely used in law and State government policy—is also usually included...
, north to Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and as far east as Palau
Palau
Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...
, Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
and New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
in the Pacific.
The yellowspotted trevally predominantly inhabits inshore lagoon
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
s and rocky or coral reef
Reef
In nautical terminology, a reef is a rock, sandbar, or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water ....
systems, although is occasionally found in seagrass
Seagrass
Seagrasses are flowering plants from one of four plant families , all in the order Alismatales , which grow in marine, fully saline environments.-Ecology:...
meadows, around offshore islands and on deep sand banks to depths of around 100 m. It is intolerant of low salinities and as such does not enter estuaries.
Biology and fishery
The yellowspotted trevally lives either solitarily or in large schoolsShoaling and schooling
In biology, any group of fish that stay together for social reasons are said to be shoaling , and if, in addition, the group is swimming in the same direction in a coordinated manner, they are said to be schooling . In common usage, the terms are sometimes used rather loosely...
, with smaller groups often patrolling the edges of reefs in search of food and large solitary fish are known to patrol seagrass beds in search of prey. The species diet consists of small fish such as anchovies, a wide range of crustaceans including swimming crabs, mantis shrimp
Mantis shrimp
Mantis shrimp or stomatopods are marine crustaceans, the members of the order Stomatopoda. They are neither shrimp nor mantids, but receive their name purely from the physical resemblance to both the terrestrial praying mantis and the shrimp. They may reach in length, although exceptional cases of...
and prawns as well as cephalopods such as squid
Squid
Squid are cephalopods of the order Teuthida, which comprises around 300 species. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, a mantle, and arms. Squid, like cuttlefish, have eight arms arranged in pairs and two, usually longer, tentacles...
. Preliminary dietary information collected from the North West Shelf of Australia shows that C. fulvoguttatus and C. gymnostethus
Bludger (fish)
The bludger, Carangoides gymnostethus , is a widespread species of large marine fish in the jack family, Carangidae...
inhabit very similar habitats, and are able to do so by partitioning their diet, with C. fulvoguttatus taking more fish and cephalopods while C. gymnostethus predominantly takes crustaceans. The only data on reproduction in the species comes from Palau, where large spawning
Spawn (biology)
Spawn refers to the eggs and sperm released or deposited, usually into water, by aquatic animals. As a verb, spawn refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, also called spawning...
aggregations form in the third quarter of the lunar month
Lunar month
In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two identical syzygies . There are many variations. In Middle-Eastern and European traditions, the month starts when the young crescent moon becomes first visible at evening after conjunction with the Sun one or two days before that evening...
. Spawning takes place in South Africa over the summer.
The yellowspotted trevally is of moderate importance to fisheries throughout its range, although catch statistics are rarely kept for this species specifically. One exception is Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, with the FAO
Fão
Fão is a town in Esposende Municipality in Portugal....
reporting a yearly catch of between 128 and 324 tonne
Tonne
The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
s between 2000 and 2004, with no apparent trends in the catch data. The species is taken by hook and line, gill nets and various traps. The yellowspotted trevally is also of major importance to angler
Angling
Angling is a method of fishing by means of an "angle" . The hook is usually attached to a fishing line and the line is often attached to a fishing rod. Fishing rods are usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a mechanism for storing, retrieving and paying out the line. The hook itself...
s and spearfishermen
Spearfishing
Spearfishing is an ancient method of fishing that has been used throughout the world for millennia. Early civilizations were familiar with the custom of spearing fish from rivers and streams using sharpened sticks....
in some countries, with the species highly valued in Australia and South Africa. Surveys of recreational catches in the Pilbara region of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
indicate around 5 tonnes of fish are taken every year, with around 3 tonnes kept for consumption or use as bait. Fish are mostly caught from boats using small baits including fish and crab, as well as lures
Fishing lure
A fishing lure is an object attached to the end of a fishing line which is designed to resemble and move like the prey of a fish. The purpose of the lure is to use movement, vibration, and colour to catch the fish's attention so it bites the hook...
including minnows, metal slugs, soft plastic lures and even saltwater flies
Fly fishing
Fly fishing is an angling method in which an artificial 'fly' is used to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. Casting a nearly weightless fly or 'lure' requires casting techniques significantly different from other forms of casting...
. It is an excellent gamefish, with young fish also considered good table fish, becoming somewhat dry with age. The yellowspotted trevally is also considered a good candidate for 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...
in the future.