Life History and Habitat
Life history, including information on the habitat, growth, feeding, and reproduction of a species, is important because it affects how a fishery is managed.
Geographic range: Wahoo are found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, including the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. In the Pacific, wahoo are found between 46° N-35° S latitude.
Habitat: Wahoo inhabit the pelagic area of tropical and subtropical waters.
Life span: Short, with an estimated maximum of 9 years.
Food: Wahoo are voracious predators, feeding on mackerels, butterfishes, porcupine fishes, round herrings, scads, jacks, pompanos, and flying fishes. They generally compete for the same kind of food as highly migratory tuna.
Growth rate: Rapid
Maximum size: The maximum reported size for wahoo is 158 pounds (IGFA World Record). Wahoo commonly attain sizes between 40 and 65 inches in length, with maximum size reaching 98 inches.
Reaches reproductive maturity: Males mature at 34 inches and females mature at 40 inches. Both sexes of wahoo are capable of reproducing during the first year of life.
Reproduction: Individual females may spawn many times during the season at short intervals. All tuna-like species have high reproductive rates, producing millions of eggs per year to compensate for the large percentage of eggs that do not survive to adults.
Spawning season: Year-round in tropical waters and during the summer months in higher latitudes, including Hawaii. Spawning in the United States takes place from June to August.
Spawning grounds: Tropical waters and higher latitude waters where surface temperatures are greater than 68-75° F.
Migrations: Wahoo tend to be year-round residents in tropical waters, but they expand their range to more northern latitudes during the summer months.
Predators: Young wahoo are prey for predators that inhabit the upper surface layer of tropical and subtropical oceans.
Commercial or recreational interest: Both
Distinguishing characteristics: Wahoo are covered with small scales and are steel blue above and pale blue below. It has a series of 25 to 30 irregular blackish-blue vertical bars on the sides. The fish has a large mouth with strong, triangular, compressed and finely serrate teeth. Its snout is about as long as the rest of the head.
Role in the Ecosystem
Most oceanic pelagic fish are opportunistic carnivores with variable diets. The major prey items can vary substantially during different stages of life, in different regions of the Pacific, and in different seasons.
Additional Information
Market name: Wahoo
Vernacular names: Kinkfish, Peto, Guarapucu, Ono, Thazard Batard
~ref: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ Aug 2010