Yellow Jack

The yellow jack shows the typical body profile of the genus Carangoides, having a moderately deep, compressed elongate shape, with the dorsal profile slightly more convex than the ventral profile. It is a large fish, growing to a known maximum length of 1 metre (39 in), although more common seen below 45 centimetres (18 in), and a maximum weight of 14 kilograms (31 lb). The dorsal profile of the head is slightly curved from the snout to the nape, with the eye having a moderately well developed adipose eyelid. One of the major diagnostic features is that the upper jaw does not reach to the interior margin of the eye. Both jaws contain narrow bands of villiform teeth, with these bands becoming wider anteriorly. The dorsal fin is in two parts, the first containing seven spines and the second of one spine followed by 25 to 28 soft rays.

The yellow jack is distributed throughout the tropical to subtropical western Atlantic Ocean, ranging on the coast of America from Massachusetts to Maceio, Brazil. The species range includes hundreds of offshore islands in the eastern Atlantic, including Bermuda, the Bahamas, the West Indies and throughout the Caribbean Sea. Along with the bar jack, C. ruber, it is only one of two species formerly in Carangoides present in the Atlantic, with all others having Indo-Pacific distributions.

it also can be found in the Libyan coast (in the Mediterranean sea). The yellow jack is occasionally found in inshore coastal waters, but prefers offshore reefs and islands, or open marine waters over the continental shelf. Whilst not often seen in shallow waters near the American continent, yellow jack are commonly seen in the sandy shallows of a number of Caribbean islands foraging with other species.

Yellow jack are a minor commercial species throughout their range, taken by seines, trawls and hook and line techniques. They are also caught by recreational fishermen, with fish baits and lures and often while trolling, although they are rarely targeted specifically. The species is rated as a fair to good table fish, and is marketed both fresh and salted. Yellow jack are known to be carriers of ciguatera around the West Indies, and are classified as a high risk species, with their predatory nature allowing the toxin to accumulate in their flesh. The yellow jack was actually the first species outside of the Pacific Ocean to be confirmed as carrying ciguatera toxins, although these early studies showed that the toxin was biochemically slightly different from the Pacific strain.