Fish ID Help

It's a black jack (caranx lugubris). Here in Puerto Rico sometimes they carry ciguatera.

John that is one ugly fish. I hope he tastes as good as his looks are bad.

Dark meat or white meat?

I like the meat, its dark, but for a jack, is pretty good, I like it in nuggets, but 15 pound is big, will make nice fillets.

Do they have alot of worms like others Jacks?

serious question. Why shoot a fish if you dont know what it is?

Do yous have restrictions over there for what you can and cant take and size limits?

Over here almost all the jacks are not regulated, and all can be taken with a spear. I didn't know that fish but if I saw it for sure I'd think it was some kind of jack, maybe a strange Cravalle. I can't speak for John but if it was me and I didn't recognize the fish I'd want to shoot it just so I can get a closer look. Otherwise how would you learn what it is. My personal code is that all new fish can be taken once to evaluate whether they're worth taking in the future. After that if I'm not going to eat it I'm not going to shoot it.

I agree with Luxemburg. I hate seeing people post fish they dont recognize but shot anyway. In this case its a little different. Like Dan said there is no mistake that that is a jack and in the water I bet it wasnt as black an probably looked a hell of a lot like a horse eye/ Cravalle etc. Its also large enough to be above any length limits if there were any. IMO there are enough fish in the water that I know I can shoot and taste good that I dont need to shoot one that will get me in trouble. I dont eat a lot of fish and enjoy spearing for just being in the water and the challenge (dont get me wrong fresh fish is also nice) so filling the cooler isnt my priority.

Look at it another way. If you know %100 which fish are regulated, and you see a fish that you don't recognize, then for sure the fish is not regulated.

Dan just nailed it... I know all the fish I can NOT shoot..anything else is dinner

Quote from luxemburg

serious question. Why shoot a fish if you dont know what it is?

Do yous have restrictions over there for what you can and cant take and size limits?

I have to say, that if you know your laws, and you actually respect them, why not
shoot a fish you dont know what it is?
It could actually be a new species, or something that normally you dont eat because you are
at a new spot, this particular fish, is a deep water jack, not that he is swiming in deep waters, but
he is on the top layers of drop offs or pinacles, ect, so its rare to find it over normal reefs.
Anyways, if he were using any other fishig gear, the fish would go out of the water, hooks, nets and
traps dont discriminate, and catch and release is a joke.

And I agree, you question is valid, we dont mean for rookins to be shooting at everything
they dont recognice.

I take that back. If you know the laws thoroughly and you know for sure that what you are shooting is not protected then I can understand shooting a fish. However there are not very many that know the laws the well (the ones enforcing the laws dont even know them that well). I just dont like people who shoot then ask questions later without any clue of what they might be doing/shooting. In other words ignorance

Quote from Wishihadgills

I take that back. If you know the laws thoroughly and you know for sure that what you are shooting is not protected then I can understand shooting a fish. However there are not very many that know the laws the well (the ones enforcing the laws dont even know them that well). I just dont like people who shoot then ask questions later without any clue of what they might be doing/shooting. In other words ignorance

My friends brother is like this, finally last week I yelled at him I think he was about to cry but I think he might actually get it. If its not illegal to shoot and you or someone else is going to eat it then I'm all for it.

Quote from John Hanson

Thanks for the respectful replies. I don't like making a post like this simply becuase it can get misunderstood rather quickly.

Believe it or not everyone's input, so far has been exactly what went through my mind before posting this. I've been on the forums for quite some time. I know this can be a taboo subject.

I know what we cannot shoot at this time. I know that with the size of the jack and being familiar with the regs, that the take was perfectly within the regulations.

To make the story a bit more clear, there were several fish in the area that similar color discrepencies. I saw a few small amberjack that were the same color. I am well aware that gene mutations can cause color discrepencies within the species.

I was al most certain that when I pulled the trigger that this fish was a "mutant" horeseye. it wasn't until I was on the boat that I noticed the shape of the head and location of the eye and realized that this was a different species of jack.

The guy I went out is a very seasoned veteran of divin this area and did not have any idea what it really was. He said he had never seen one.

It wasn't until I got home and tried to ID with on-line fish guides from the GOM; which was unsuccesful, that I posed the question on this forum.

Dan was also partially right in his assesment that I was more curious as to what the hell it was when I saw it. I did not shoot it right away and observed it for several minutes before actually making the decision to pull the trigger.

I appreciate all the input here. it's nice to see that people can voice their opinions or concerns without having to turn into drama-fest

Display More

All the credit to Dan, he made clear from the begining that he would keep this forum diferent , and it worked.

Thank you Roberto but in this matter we are all equal partners.

as we are in the ocean, so we should be on land....brothers