WoRMS

(of Gasterosteus canadus Linnaeus, 1766) Linnaeus, C. (1767). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae: secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Ed. 12. 1., Regnum Animale. 1 & 2. [The system of nature through the three kingdoms of nature: according to classes, orders, genera, species, with characters, differences, synonyms, places. Ed. 12. 1., Animal Kingdom. 1 & 2]. Holmiae [Stockholm], Laurentii Salvii. pp. 1-532 [1766] pp. 533-1327 [1767]., available online at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/83650#5 [details]

Descriptive notes

Description Occurs in a variety of habitats, over mud, sand and gravel bottoms; over coral reefs and off rock shores (Ref. 10948) and...

Description Occurs in a variety of habitats, over mud, sand and gravel bottoms; over coral reefs and off rock shores (Ref. 10948) and in mangrove sloughs; inshore around pilings and buoys, and offshore around drifting and stationary objects; occasionally in estuaries (Ref. 9739). Encountered in the water column up to a depth of 50 m (Ref. 9626). . Feeds on crabs, fish and squids (Refs. 5213; 10948) . Caught in small quantities due to its solitary behavior (Ref. 9626). Good food fish, marketed fresh (Ref. 5284), smoked and frozen (Ref. 9987) [details]

Distribution Western Atlantic: 43.25°N to Bermuda and Massachusetts, USA to Argentina, including the Gulf of Mexico and entire Caribbean

Distribution Western Atlantic: 43.25°N to Bermuda and Massachusetts, USA to Argentina, including the Gulf of Mexico and entire Caribbean [details]

Taxonomic citation

Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. (2025). FishBase. Rachycentron canadum (Linnaeus, 1766). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=127006 on 2025-04-01

Taxonomic edit history

Date

action

2004-12-21 15:54:05Z

created

van der Land, Jacob

2008-01-15 17:27:08Z

changed

Bailly, Nicolas

Licensing

The webpage text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

[taxonomic tree]

Nomenclature

original description (of Gasterosteus canadus Linnaeus, 1766) Linnaeus, C. (1767). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae: secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Ed. 12. 1., Regnum Animale. 1 & 2. [The system of nature through the three kingdoms of nature: according to classes, orders, genera, species, with characters, differences, synonyms, places. Ed. 12. 1., Animal Kingdom. 1 & 2]. Holmiae [Stockholm], Laurentii Salvii. pp. 1-532 [1766] pp. 533-1327 [1767]., available online at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/83650#5 [details]

original description (of Scomber niger Bloch, 1793) Bloch, M. E. (1793). Naturgeschichte der ausländischen Fische. Berlin. v. 7: i-xiv + 1-144, Pls. 325-360. [Also a French edition, Ichthyologie, ou Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière des poissons, v. 10, published 1797.].
page(s): 57, Pl. 337 [details]

original description (of Centronotus gardenii Lacepède, 1801) Lacepède, B.G.E. (1801). Histoire naturelle des poissons. 3: i-lxvi + 1-558, Pls. 1-34.
page(s): 310, 318 [details]

original description (of Centronotus spinosus Mitchill, 1815) Mitchill, S. L. (1815). The fishes of New-York, described and arranged. Transactions of the Literary and Philosophical Society of New-York. v. 1 (art. 5) (for 1814): 355-492, Pls. 1-6.
page(s): 490, Pl. 3 (fig. 9) [details]

original description (of Elacate atlantica Cuvier, 1832) Cuvier, G. ; Valenciennes, A. (1832). Histoire naturelle des poissons. Tome huitième. Livre neuvième. Des Scombéroïdes. v. 8: i-xix + 5 pp. + 1-509, Pls. 209-245. [Cuvier authored pp. 1-470; Valenciennes 471-509. Date of 1831 on title page. i-xv + 1-375 in Strasbourg edition.].
page(s): 334, Pl. 233 [details]

original description (of Elacate bivittata Cuvier, 1832) Cuvier, G. ; Valenciennes, A. (1832). Histoire naturelle des poissons. Tome huitième. Livre neuvième. Des Scombéroïdes. v. 8: i-xix + 5 pp. + 1-509, Pls. 209-245. [Cuvier authored pp. 1-470; Valenciennes 471-509. Date of 1831 on title page. i-xv + 1-375 in Strasbourg edition.].
page(s): 338 [details]

original description (of Elacate pondiceriana Cuvier, 1832) Cuvier, G. ; Valenciennes, A. (1832). Histoire naturelle des poissons. Tome huitième. Livre neuvième. Des Scombéroïdes. v. 8: i-xix + 5 pp. + 1-509, Pls. 209-245. [Cuvier authored pp. 1-470; Valenciennes 471-509. Date of 1831 on title page. i-xv + 1-375 in Strasbourg edition.].
page(s): 329 [details]

original description (of Elacate malabarica Cuvier, 1832) Cuvier, G. ; Valenciennes, A. (1832). Histoire naturelle des poissons. Tome huitième. Livre neuvième. Des Scombéroïdes. v. 8: i-xix + 5 pp. + 1-509, Pls. 209-245. [Cuvier authored pp. 1-470; Valenciennes 471-509. Date of 1831 on title page. i-xv + 1-375 in Strasbourg edition.].
page(s): 332 [details]

original description (of Elacate motta Cuvier, 1829) Cuvier, G. (1829). Le Règne Animal distribué, d'apres son organisation, pour servir de base à l'histoire naturelle des animaux et d'introduction à l'anatomie comparée. [The Animal Kingdom, arranged according to its organization, to serve as a basis for the natural history of animals and as an introduction to comparative anatomy]. Déterville, Paris. Edition 2. v. 2: i-xv + 1-406., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/31771348
page(s): 203 [details]

original description (of Elacate nigerrima Swainson, 1839) Swainson, W. (1839). On the natural history and classification of fishes, amphibians, & reptiles, or monocardian animals. Spottiswoode & Co., London. v. 2: i-vi + 1-452. [details]

basis of record van der Land, J.; Costello, M.J.; Zavodnik, D.; Santos, R.S.; Porteiro, F.M.; Bailly, N.; Eschmeyer, W.N.; Froese, R. (2001). Pisces, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 357-374 (look up in IMIS) [details]

Ecology

ecology source Looby, A.; Erbe, C.; Bravo, S.; Cox, K.; Davies, H. L.; Di Iorio, L.; Jézéquel, Y.; Juanes, F.; Martin, C. W.; Mooney, T. A.; Radford, C.; Reynolds, L. K.; Rice, A. N.; Riera, A.; Rountree, R.; Spriel, B.; Stanley, J.; Vela, S.; Parsons, M. J. G. (2023). Global inventory of species categorized by known underwater sonifery. Scientific Data. 10(1). (look up in IMIS), available online at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02745-4 [details]

Other

context source (Introduced species) Katsanevakis, S.; Bogucarskis, K.; Gatto, F.; Vandekerkhove, J.; Deriu, I.; Cardoso A.S. (2012). Building the European Alien Species Information Network (EASIN): a novel approach for the exploration of distributed alien species data. BioInvasions Records. 1: 235-245., available online at http://easin.jrc.ec.europa.eu [details] Available for editors

[request]

context source (HKRMS) Hong Kong marine fish database. AFCD. , available online at https://www.hk-fish.net/en/fish/introduction/ [details]

context source (Bermuda) Smith-Vaniz, W. F.; Collette, B. B.; Luckhurst, B. E (1999). Fishes of Bermuda: History, zoogeography, annotated checklist, and identification keys (American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists - Special Publication No.4) . ASIH, 424 pp. [details]

context source (PeRMS) Chirichigno, N.; Cornejo, M. (2001). Catálogo comentado de los peces marinos del Perú. 2ª ed. Instituto del Mar de Perú. Publicación Especial. Callao. 314 p. [details]

additional source Gulf of Maine Biogeographic Information System (GMBIS) Electronic Atlas. 2002. November, 2002. [details]

additional source Streftaris, N., A. Zenetos & E. Papathanassiou. (2005). Globalisation in marine ecosystems: the story of non-indigenous marine species across European seas. Oceanogry and Marine Biology: an Annual Review. 43: 419-453. (look up in IMIS) [details] Available for editors

[request]

additional source Zenetos, A., M.E. Cinar, M.A. Pancucci-Papadopoulou, J.G. Harmelin, G. Furnari, F. Andaloro, N. Bellou, N. Streftaris & H. Zibrowius. (2005). Annotated list of marine alien species in the Mediterranean with records of the worst invasive species. Mediterranean Marine Science. 6 (2): 63-118., available online at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273213810_Annotated_list_of_marine_alien_species_in_the_Mediterranean_with_records_of_the_worst_invasive_species [details] Available for editors

[request]

additional source McEachran, J. D. (2009). Fishes (Vertebrata: Pisces) of the Gulf of Mexico, Pp. 1223–1316 in: Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Biodiversity. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas. [details]

additional source Liu, J.Y. [Ruiyu] (ed.). (2008). Checklist of marine biota of China seas. China Science Press. 1267 pp. (look up in IMIS) [details] Available for editors

[request]

additional source Zenetos, A., S. Gofas, M. Verlaque, M. Cinar, J. Garcia Raso, C. Bianchi, C. Morri, E. Azzurro, M. Bilecenoglu, C. Froglia, I. Siokou, D. Violanti, A. Sfriso, G. San Martin, A. Giangrande, T. Katagan, E. Ballesteros, A. Ramos-Espla, F. Mastrototaro, O. Ocana, A. Zingone, M,. Gambi & N. Streftaris. (2010). Alien species in the Mediterranean Sea by 2010. A contribution to the application of European Union's Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Part I. Spatial distribution. Mediterranean Marine Science. 11(2): 381-493., available online at https://doi.org/10.12681/mms.87 [details]

additional source Galil, B. (2007). Seeing Red: Alien species along the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Aquatic Invasions. 2(4): 281-312., available online at https://doi.org/10.3391/ai.2007.2.4.2 [details]

additional source Ben Rais Lasram, F.; Mouillot, D. (2008). Increasing southern invasion enhances congruence between endemic and exotic Mediterranean fish fauna. Biological Invasions. 11(3): 697-711., available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-008-9284-4 [details] Available for editors

[request]

additional source Froese, R. & D. Pauly (Editors). (2025). FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. version (06/2024)., available online at https://www.fishbase.org [details]

Present

Present in aphia/obis/gbif/idigbio

Inaccurate

Introduced: alien

Containing type locality

From regional or thematic species database

Introduced species vector dispersal Colombian part of the North Pacific Ocean (Marine Region) Aquaculture: Accidental [details]

Introduced species vector dispersal in Israeli part of the Mediterranean Sea - Eastern Basin (Marine Region) : Canals: natural range expansion through man-made canals [details]

Unreviewed

Diet Feeds on crabs, fishes, and squids [details]

Distribution Western Atlantic: 43.25°N to Bermuda and Massachusetts, USA to Argentina, including the Gulf of Mexico and entire Caribbean [details]

Habitat Occurs in a variety of habitats, over mud, sand and gravel bottoms; over coral reefs, off rocky shores and in mangrove sloughs; inshore around pilings and buoys, and offshore around drifting and stationary objects; occasionally in estuaries. [details]

Habitat nektonic [details]

Remark Monotypic genus. [details]

Reproduction Spawns during the warm months in the western Atlantic; eggs and larvae planktonic [details]

Definitions

Language	Name
Dutch	cobia	[details]
English	cobia	[details]
French	mafou	[details]
German	Cobia	[details]
Hebrew	קוביה כל-ימית	[details]
Japanese	スギ	[details]
Spanish	cobia	[details]