Scombridae

Wahoo

Acanthocybium solandri

Nearly thirty cobalt bars etched on silver

• Blue
• Gray
• Silver
• Tropical
• Globally widespread
• Marine fish
• Fusiform
• Large
• Tropical fish

Built like an aquatic missile, the wahoo is a formidable pelagic predator celebrated for blistering speed and hydrodynamic elegance. Its elongated, cylindrical frame displays an iridescent blue-green back that transitions into silvery sides etched with twenty-four to thirty intense cobalt-blue vertical bars. A sharp, pointed snout houses tightly packed, serrated triangular teeth set within jaws capable of severing large prey instantly. Distributed circumtropically through warm temperate and tropical waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, this open-sea wanderer patrols surface currents down to roughly one hundred meters depth. Solitary or gathering in small loose packs, wahoo frequent current confluences, submarine drop-offs, and floating flotsam where forage fish congregate. Propelled by powerful caudal fin sweeps reaching speeds over seventy kilometres per hour, it ambushes squid, flying fish, flying squids, and smaller scombroid fishes. Growth is rapid throughout its relatively short lifespan, with individuals maturing early and reaching a recorded maximum total length of two hundred and fifty centimetres.

Sources: NOAA Fisheries — Atlantic Wahoo