Seriola rivoliana

Amberjacks are a semi-pelagic species found in tropical and temperate waters around the world. In the Indo-Pacific one will encounter a potentially large species, the almaco jack (Seriola rivoliana), which is commonly found in Europe in the Atlantic, Azores, Madeira, Cape Verde and also on the Pacific coasts of Central America, from Mexico to Colombia.

It resembles the greater amberjack (Seriola dumerilii) but can be differentiated by its stockier shape, intense black stripe in the head and high dorsal fin. More south, there is another cousin the southern yellowtail seriola lalandi. Not observed in Indonesia.

More north one can find the japanese amberjack or yellowtail, Seriola quinqueradiata. It is called hamachi and often served in sushi restaurants. So if a restaurant serves hamachi, you know more or less what kind of fish this should be…

In the equatorial regions, almaco jacks tends to flee the surface waters and take refuge in the cooler waters of the deep. This is why it is more often caught jigging than spearfishing.

This is the case in Indonesia, where the almaco, improperly named “amberjack”, is rather captured with rod and lures. However, during the summer, when the surface waters cool down (22-24 ° C), it is then possible to observe it occasionally.

As for the wahoo, the size of the specimens usually caught in Indonesia is lower than the world average, a 15 / 20kg fish being a very large specimen, which is not the case for the Pacific coast of Central America, where this fish classically exceeds 30kg.

In Indonesia, I only saw and captured specimens of modest size, between 2 and 8kg. It will be encountered on deep drop-offs, slopes and around FADs.

The flesh of the almaco jack is prized, cooked and even better raw; if you have a chance to encounter one, that’s a worthy catch.