Fish
Bluefin Kingfish
Caranx melampygus
A brassy trevally suffused with blue and dusted with blue-black spots, its fins an electric blue, roaming offshore reefs.
Also known as blouvin- koningvis
- Typical size
- Attains 80 cm and 7 kg
- Habitat
- Offshore reefs
The bluefin kingfish has a brassy head and upper body suffused with blue and covered in small blue-black spots that appear at around 20 cm and multiply with age; the second dorsal, anal and tail fins glow electric blue. Young fish lack the spots and have pale to dusky fins with a yellow pectoral. It grows to about 80 cm and 7 kg, reportedly to 100 cm.
A reef-associated species most common in offshore areas, it ranges from Natal northward throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific. Fast and aggressive, it is a striking prize for spearfishermen.