U

Marine Wildlife on Tobago's Shores - Listed in alphabetical order started with "U"

Uraspis secunda

Carangidae (Jacks and pompanos)

Common name: Cottonmouth jack

Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)

ORDER: Perciformes

Maximum size: 50cm long (male/unsexed); maximum weight: 1,100g

Environment: pelagic; marine; depth range 1-36m

Climate: subtropical

Importance: fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes

Distribution: Worldwide in warm waters. Often found in Tobago and the Caribbean. Indian Ocean: Tanzania. Eastern Pacific: California, USA to Costa Rica. Also in Hawaii. Western Atlantic: Massachusetts, USA and northern Gulf of Mexico to Brazil. Eastern Atlantic: Mauritania to Angola; also Algoa Bay, South Africa.

Diagnosis: Dorsal spines (total): 9-9; Dorsal softrays (total): 27-32; Anal spines: 3-3; Anal soft-rays: 19-23. Adults dark to bluish black; juveniles with 6-7 dark bands with pale interspaces.

Biology: Mostly oceanic and pelagic but sometimes found near the bottom, often near islands. Solitary or in small schools.

Threatened: Not in IUCN Red List

Dangerous: harmless