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Description |
Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans: in tropical and subtropical waters, including the Caribbean and Mediterranean seas.
Geographic Range [top]
Range Description: This species is present in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans in tropical and subtropical waters, including the Caribbean and Mediterranean seas. In the Eastern Pacific, it occurs from northern Baja at least to Loretto in the Gulf of California, south to northern Peru, including all of the oceanic islands. In the southern Atlantic, this species has been found as far south as 45°S.
Countries occurrence:
Native:
Albania; Algeria; Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Aruba; Australia; Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Bermuda; Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (Saba, Sint Eustatius); Bosnia and Herzegovina; Brazil; Cameroon; Cape Verde; Cayman Islands; China; Christmas Island; Cocos (Keeling) Islands; Colombia; Comoros; Cook Islands; Costa Rica; Croatia; Cuba; Curaçao; Cyprus; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Equatorial Guinea; Fiji; France; French Guiana; French Polynesia; Greece; Grenada; Guadeloupe; Guam; Guatemala; Guyana; Haiti; Honduras; Hong Kong; India; Indonesia; Israel; Italy; Jamaica; Japan; Kenya; Kiribati; Lebanon; Libya; Madagascar; Malaysia; Maldives; Malta; Marshall Islands; Martinique; Mauritania; Mauritius; Mexico; Micronesia, Federated States of ; Monaco; Montserrat; Morocco; Mozambique; New Caledonia; Nicaragua; Nigeria; Northern Mariana Islands; Oman; Pakistan; Palau; Panama; Papua New Guinea; Peru; Philippines; Puerto Rico; Réunion; Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Martin (French part); Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Samoa; Sao Tomé and Principe; Saudi Arabia; Seychelles; Sint Maarten (Dutch part); Slovenia; Solomon Islands; Somalia; South Africa; Spain; Sri Lanka; Suriname; Syrian Arab Republic; Taiwan, Province of China; Tanzania, United Republic of; Tokelau; Tonga; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; Turkey; Turks and Caicos Islands; Tuvalu; United States; Vanuatu; Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of; Viet Nam; Virgin Islands, British; Virgin Islands, U.S.; Yemen
FAO Marine Fishing Areas:
Native:
Atlantic – eastern central; Atlantic – western central; Atlantic – southeast; Atlantic – southwest; Indian Ocean – western; Indian Ocean – eastern; Mediterranean and Black Sea; Pacific – eastern central; Pacific – northwest; Pacific – southwest; Pacific – southeast; Pacific – western central
Additional data:
? Lower depth limit (metres): 15
Range Map: Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.
Population [top]
Population: The population is estimated to be relatively stable, primarily due to their rapid growth rate and reproductive potential. Reported worldwide catches show a gradual increase from 100 t in 1960, to 3,392 t in 2006 (FAO 2009). It is possible that this increase may represent an improvement in documentation and/or increase in fishing effort.
Atlantic
Estimated catches in the Atlantic and Caribbean between 1983 and 2007 are variable and range between a peak of 3,085 mt in 1997 and a low of 920 mt in 1985 (ICCAT 2009). It is important to note that variability in catches might be more related to reporting rate than to actual fluctuations in the population (Hazin pers. comm. 2010). There is a pronounced seasonal abundance of this species at least in the Western Atlantic (SAFMC 2003).
The most recent stock assessment for the eastern Caribbean (CRFM 2007) concluded that there was no decline in the catch rate, but that the data were insufficient. The mean catch rates between 1996 and 2006 fluctuated between 20–25 kg/trip without a clear trend. Catch per unit effort (CPUE) data were used from only two countries, Barbados and St. Lucia. The recommendation was that there should be a precautionary approach to the development of the fishery (CRFM 2007). The status of Wahoo resources in the western central Atlantic remains unclear.
Between 1990 and 2009, the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico recreational landings fluctuated between 22,000 and 110,000 fish/year without discernible trend (R. Nelson pers. comm. from NMFS Fisheries Statistics Division 2010). During the same time period, reported U.S. commercial landings peaked at 165 mt in 1993 and then steadily declined to 61 mt in 2008 (R. Nelson pers. comm. from NMFS Fisheries Statistics Division 2010).
Mediterranean
Catches of this species are generally not reported in the Mediterranean, as this species is not a typical resident and occurs only sporadically.
Eastern Tropical Pacific
Landing data from the Eastern Tropical Pacific region show recent increases in landings (FAO 2009). There are no data to suggest that the increase in landings is negatively affecting the population.
Indian Ocean
Only minimal catches are reported for the Indian Ocean (IOTC 2007).
Current Population Trend: Stable
Additional data:
? Population severely fragmented: No
Habitat and Ecology [top]
Habitat and Ecology: This is an oceanic, epipelagic species frequently found solitarily or forming small, loose aggregations rather than compact schools. It is found to at least 340 m (Nobrega et al. 2009). It feeds on fishes and squids. This species feeds on cephalopods around São Pedro and São Paulo Archipelago (Andrade et al. 2007), where the Flying Fish Cypselurus cyanopterus is also an important food item, together with other fishes, such as Oxyporhamphus micropterus and Dactylopterus volitans (Vaske-Junior et al. 2003).
Its spawning season in Gulf of Mexico, Bahamas and Bermuda is from at least May–October (Oxenford et al. 2003). In St. Peter and St. Pauls rocks spawning occurs in April and May. Individuals caught in this region are primarily adults that are gathering to spawn (Melo et al. 2011). Females are multiple batch spawners and are highly fecund. An individual female might spawn every 2–6 days, a total of 20–62 times during a spawning season. The mean batch fecundity in the northern Gulf of Mexico is 1.1 million eggs resulting in a total annual fecundity of 30–92.8 million eggs (Brown-Peterson et al. 2000). Batch fecundity for Florida and the Bahamas ranged from 0.8–1.7 million eggs (Jenkins and McBride 2009). Fish in different maturity stages are frequently caught at the same time. This is a fast growing species with high mortality.
This species exhibits early sexual maturity, usually within the first year. Generation length is estimated to be between 3–5 years (Collette et al. 2011). Average reproductive age is one year for females and two years for males. The species lives on average for 5–6 years (Oxenford et al. 2003), but can live as long as nine years (McBride et al. 2008, Melo et al. 2011). In the northern Gulf of Mexico, 50% sexual maturity in males is reached before 93.5 cm fork length (FL), probably at an age of one year. In females, size at 50% maturity is approximately 102 cm FL, at an estimated age of two years (Brown-Peterson et al. 2000). For the Bahamas and Florida, 50% female maturity at 92.5 cm (FL) at 0.6 years of age (Mackie Jenkins and McBride 2009). In St. Peter and St. Pauls the first sexual maturity for males was at 101 cm and at 110 cm for females, which corresponds to an age of approximately 3.8 years (Melo et al. 2011).
The maximum recorded length is 200 cm in Cape Hatteras, US (Hogarth 1976) and the maximum weight recorded is 84.5 kg (IGFA 2011).
Systems: Marine
Generation Length (years): 3-5
Movement patterns: Full Migrant
Use and Trade [top]
Use and Trade: This species is caught in commercial, artisanal, or recreational fisheries throughout its range. As with other large pelagic species, Wahoo accumulate mercury in their flesh and there is a positive linear relationship between Hg and length and age, mean 0.50 mg/kg (Adams 2010).
Threats [top]
Major Threat(s): There do not appear to be any organized fisheries for this species in most areas (Collette and Nauen 1983), but this species is targeted in the western Atlantic by both commercial and recreational fisheries, where landings are most certainly under reported for this species (Oxenford et al. 2003). This species is typically caught by trolling, hook and line and as a bycatch in purse-seine and longline fisheries (Collette 1995).
In the Eastern Pacific, this species is often caught as bycatch in purse seines, especially given the increased effort using Fish Aggregating Devices (FADS). No stock assessment has been carried out. In the Atlantic, small tunas are exploited mainly by coastal fisheries and often by artisanal fisheries, although substantial catches are also made, either as target species or as bycatch, by purse seiners, mid-water trawlers, handlines, troll lines, driftnets, surface drifting long-lines and small scale gillnets. Several recreational fisheries also target small tunas. In the southwest Atlantic this species is caught by artisanal handline and trolling in the northeast and central Brazil, as bycatch in industrial longliners and game fisheries (Nobrega et al. 2009, Amorim and Silva 2005).
Increasing using of FADs, both fixed and those used in the tropical tuna purse seine fishery, has increased the directed and bycatch mortality of Wahoo throughout its range. However, there is a general lack of information on the mortality of these species as bycatch, exacerbated by the confusion regarding species identification (ICCAT 2009).
Conservation Actions [top]
Conservation Actions: This species distribution includes a number of Marine Protected Areas. There are limited species-specific conservation measures in place for this species. In the US Atlantic, the harvest of this species is restricted to hook and line gear (SAFMC 2003). Area wide annual closures of 62 days exist for this species in the Eastern Pacific, and there is also a FAD closure in the western and central Pacific for two months a year (WCPFC 2009).
The status of Wahoo resources in the western central Atlantic remains unclear. Reliable Wahoo catch and fishing effort data from this area, improved knowledge of migration patterns, reproductive characteristics and critical habitat, validation of age, growth and mortality estimates, and a more comprehensive analysis of stock structure for the entire Atlantic are needed for informed Wahoo stock assessment and management (Oxenford et al. 2003).
Citation: Collette, B., Acero, A., Amorim, A.F., Boustany, A., Canales Ramirez, C., Cardenas, G., Carpenter, K.E., de Oliveira Leite Jr., N., Di Natale, A., Die, D., Fox, W., Fredou, F.L., Graves, J., Guzman-Mora, A., Viera Hazin, F.H., Hinton, M., Juan Jorda, M., Kada, O., Minte Vera, C., Miyabe, N., Montano Cruz, R., Nelson, R., Oxenford, H., Restrepo, V., Salas, E., Schaefer, K., Schratwieser, J., Serra, R., Sun, C., Teixeira Lessa, R.P., Pires Ferreira Travassos, P.E., Uozumi, Y. & Yanez, E. 2011. Acanthocybium solandri. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011: e.T170331A6750961. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T170331A6750961.en. Downloaded on 04 September 2018.
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