What you Need for Tuna Fishing Gear
April 25, 2014
3 Tuna Fishing Tips for Beginners
May 7, 2014
The wahoo is a fish known commonly throughout the world, for both its fame as a gaming fish and its immaculate taste when it’s cooked. There is much to know about these fish even though they’re common; in fact, their commonality across the globe is currently why scientists are researching more deeply into them.
The wahoo species of fish can be found in salt water in the tropic and sub-tropic areas of the world. Their abundance worldwide has made them a target for both scientists and commercial fisherman alike. Even gaming fisherman choose to go after this distinct family of fish for the skill necessary to catch one and the excellent flavor they produce as a dish.
Wahoo are a medium-sized species of fish; they can grow up to around 8 feet long and the largest to ever be caught on a line weighed 158.5 pounds. Some experts estimate the wahoo can reach a maximum size of about 200 pounds, though there are no specimens yet to prove it.
This species of fish is generally prefers a solitary environment, but it is also common to find them in small schools. In pristine conditions, some of their schools have been known to reach up to around 100 fish, but it is a rare occurrence.
Another reason this fish is targeted for sport is its great speed and strength. The wahoo has been known to reach swimming speeds of about 60 miles per hour, they’re aggressive, and have razor sharp teeth. The wahoo also possesses bladelike fins that help propel it through the water; the wahoo is one of the fastest known fish in the world.
Wahoo is often mistaken for biologically related fish such as the mackerel because of the similarities, though there are more noticeable differences between the wahoo and mackerel. The difference between the king mackerel and narrow barred Spanish mackerel to the wahoo is a patch of skin that covers the mouth while it is closed. The mandible is also not showing on the wahoo unlike the king, spanish, and cero mackerel.
The wahoo variety of fish is known to mainly eat squid, but it will eat any other type of fish or animal that it can fit into its mouth. They never go too far out from land and are generally a by catch in most salt water commercial fisheries, especially those where tuna, billfish, and dolphins are located.
In 2003, there was a Dolphin Wahoo Fishery Management plan put into place even though the wahoo is not considered to be overfished. On the Environmental Protection Agency‘s ranking for endangered species, the wahoo is labeled as no concern.
This fish is also known to carry a large type of stomach worm known as Hirudinella ventricosa. This worm doesn’t affect the part of the fish that people use for consumption and likewise, the fish does not seem to suffer physically at all from being host to this worm.
Photo credit: Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)
