Banded Rudderfish, Seriola zonata

Banded Rudderfish, Seriola zonata, Juvenile. Fish caught from coastal waters off Long Island, New York, August 2023. Length: 12 cm (5.0 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Aidan Perkins, Long Island, New York.

Banded Rudderfish, Seriola zonata. Fish caught off coastal waters of Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, August 2014. Length: 33 cm (13 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Kenneth Tse, Toronto, Canada.

Banded Rudderfish, Seriola zonata. Fish caught at Elbow, 70 miles west of Tarpon Springs, Florida, January 2019. Length: 51 cm (20 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

The Banded Rudderfish, Seriola zonata, is a member of the Jack or Carangidae Family, and is known in Mexico as medregal rayado. There are nine global members of the genus Seriola, of which six are found in Mexican waters, three in the Atlantic, two in the Pacific, and this species that is found in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The Banded Rudderfish has an elongated compressed fusiform body with a long pointed snout. They are blue-gray to olive dorsally and transition to silver ventrally. Most fish have a dark oblique band that runs from the eye to the origin of the dorsal fin; some fish have an amber stripe that runs from the eye along the flank. The anal fin is dark with a white lobe with a white margin; the caudal fin is dark with lighter rear margin and a lighter colored lower lobe; and, the dorsal fin is dark with the second dorsal fin having a thin white margin. Juveniles have a dark stripe that runs from the eye to the dorsal fin origin and a series of 6 dark solid wide bars, the third, fourth and fifth of which extend into the anal and dorsal fins. Their anal fin has 2 standalone spines, then 1 spine and 19 to 21 rays with a base that is about one-half as long as the second dorsal fin; their caudal fin has a slender base and is strongly forked; their first dorsal fin has 8 spines; their second dorsal fin has 1 spine and 33 to 39 rays; and, their pectoral fins are short. Both the anal and dorsal fins have low lobes. Adults have 12 to 17 gill rakers; juveniles have 20 to 25 gill rakers. They do not have scutes. Their lateral line has a slight arch over the pectoral fins.

The Banded Rudderfish is a pelagic species that is found from the surface to depths up to 305 m (1,000 feet) over the continental shelf and spends the majority of its time near the bottom. Juveniles are often associated with jellyfish and the drifting seaweeds Physalia and Sargassum, or follow larger pelagic fish. They reach a maximum of 78 cm (2 feet 7 inches) in length and 5.2 kg (11 lbs 7 oz) in weight. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 2.27 kg (5 lbs 0 oz) with the fish caught in coastal waters off Key West, Florida in April 2015. They consume small fish and shrimp. The Banded Rudderfish is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

The Banded Rudderfish is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean.

The juvenile Banded Rudderfish can be confused with the Pilotfish, Naucrates doctor (black caudal fin with white stripes).  The adults can be confused with the Amberjack, Seriola rivoliana (deep bodied), the Bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix (blunt snout, wide caudal base), and the Greater Amberjack, Seriola dumerili (light colored fins).

From a conservation perspective the Banded Rudderfish is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are caught as a by-catch of other commercial fisheries via gill nets and longlines and by recreational anglers. In United States waters they are heavy regulated for recreational fishermen with bag and possession limits and their sale is banned; the commercial fishery is also similarly heavily regulated. They are utilized by the aquarium trade on a limited basis and can be found in the larger public aquariums.