Fillet Size
100 - 700g

Whole size
0.5 - 3kg

Excellent fish for Sushi and Sashimi.

Identifying features:  Deep bobied fish with blue-green above, some yellow on the sides and silvery white below.  It has a black spot on the operculum edge above the pectoral-fin base.  Small scales with a row of 24-26 scutes along the rear part of the body.  The dorsal fin are seperated, first with 8 spines and the pectoral fins are very elongated and scythe-like.  The tail is deeply forked on a short, slender caudal peduncle.

Comparisons:  Similar in apperance to other main commercial trevallies but usually have blunt conical teeth in the upper jaw confined to a single row, rather than being in multiple rows.

Fillets:  Deep, short fillet tapering to the tail section.  A pale reddish brown fillet with a strong pronounced central red blood line down the middle of the fillet.  It has a medium to soft texture and is suitable to most cooking methods.

Habitat:  Semi-pelagic, young schools inshore and the adults accurring deeper on the shelf.  Very common on both coasts on the North Island up to depths on 80 meters but can also be found around the northern part of the South Island.

Methods of catching: Mostly longlined and Danish seining