The wahoo (''Acanthocybium solandri'') is a scombrid

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas. In Hawaii, the wahoo is known as ono. The species is sometimes called hoo in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is best known to sports fishermen, as its speed and high quality makes it a prized and valued game fish.

Description

Its body is elongated and the back is an iridescent blue, while the sides are silvery with a pattern of irregular vertical blue bars. These colors fade rapidly at death. The mouth is large, and the teeth of the wahoo are razor sharp. Both the upper and lower jaws have a somewhat sharper appearance than those of king or Spanish mackerel. Specimens have been recorded at up to in length, and weighing up to . The growth of the fish can be quite quick.

Distribution

Wahoo have a circumtropical distribution and are found in Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Population genomic research using RAD sequencing indicates that two weakly differentiated fish stocks are in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Oceans, likely with a considerable degree of migration and gene flow between these populations.

Life cycle

The eggs of the species are buoyant and the larvae are

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the sur ...

. Wahoo tend to be solitary or occur in loose-knit groups of two or three fish. Where conditions are suitable, they can be found in schools around 100 or more.

Ecology

Their diet is made up of other fish and squid. From a study surrounding the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO), an analysis of the stomach contents of wahoo indicated that their diet consists of 84.64% native fish, 14.26%

cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan Taxonomic rank, class Cephalopoda (Greek language, Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral symm ...

s (e.g. cuttlefish), and 1.1% crustaceans. The gender ratio of wahoo favors females over males with ratios ranging from 1:0.9 (

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

) to 3.5:1 (

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), which is common for most pelagic marine species. Most wahoo taken from waters have a

trematode Trematoda is a Class (biology), class of flatworms known as trematodes, and commonly as flukes. They are obligate parasite, obligate Endoparasites, internal parasites with a complex biological life cycle, life cycle requiring at least two Host ( ...

parasite, the giant stomach worm ''( Hirudinella ventricosa),'' living in their stomachs, but it does not appear to harm the fish.

Fisheries

The flesh of the wahoo is white and/or grey, delicate to dense, and highly regarded by many cuisines. The taste has been said to be similar to mackerel. This has created some demand for the wahoo as a premium-priced commercial food fish. In many areas of its range, such as

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, and many parts of the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, local demand for the wahoo is met by artisanal commercial fishermen who take them primarily by

trolling In slang, a troll is a person who posts deliberately offensive or provocative messages online (such as in social media, a newsgroup, a internet forum, forum, a chat room, an Multiplayer video game, online video game) or who performs similar be ...

Commercial

Although local wahoo populations can be affected by heavy commercial and sport-fishing pressure, wahoo as a species is less susceptible to industrial commercial fishing than more tightly schooling and abundant species such as tuna. Wahoo are regularly taken as a bycatch in various commercial fisheries, including longline fisheries for tuna, billfish, and dolphinfish ( mahi-mahi or dorado). It is also taken in tuna purse seine fisheries, especially in sets made around floating objects, which act as a focal point for a great deal of other marine life besides tuna. In 2003, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council issued a Dolphin Wahoo Fishery Management Plan for the Atlantic. The species as a whole, though, is not considered overfished.

Recreational

In most parts of its range, the wahoo is a highly prized sport-fishing catch. It reaches a good size, and is often available not too far from land; it is also a very good fighter on light to medium tackle. It is known in sport-fishing circles for the speed and strength of its first run. Recreational sports fishermen sometimes sell their catch. Wahoo are most successfully fished with live bait around deep-water oil and gas platforms in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

during the winter.

References

External links

Atlantic wahoo
''NOAA FishWatch''. Retrieved 13 November 2012. {{Taxonbar, from=Q614252 Scombridae Mackerels Game fish Fish of Hawaii Cosmopolitan fish Fish described in 1832 Taxa named by Georges Cuvier Fish of Aruba Marine fish of Nicaragua Fish of the Gulf of Mexico