Bulleye, Cookeolus japonicus

Bulleye, Cookeolus japonicus. Fish caught off the Gordo I Bank, Baja California Sur, April 2003. Length: 35 cm (14 inches). Identification courtesy of  Milton Love, University of California, Santa Barbara, Goleta, California.

Bulleye, Cookeolus japonicus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Loreto, Baja California Sur, June 2017. Length: 35 cm (14 inches). Catch courtesy of Marty Dufek, Huntington Beach, California. Photograph and identification courtesy of  Chris Wheaton, Fullerton, California.

Bulleye, Cookeolus japonicus. Fish caught off the Gordo I Bank, Baja California Sur, March 2021. Length: 38 cm (15 inches). Catch and photograph courtesy of James Rosenwald, Saint Croix, Minnesota.

Bulleye, Cookeolus japonicus. Fish caught off the Gordo I Bank, Baja California Sur, April 2021. Length: 38 cm (15 inches). Catch and photograph courtesy of James Rosenwald, Saint Croix, Minnesota.

Bulleye, Cookeolus japonicus. Fish caught off the Gordo I Bank, Baja California Sur, January 2022. Length: 40 cm (16 inches).

Bulleye, Cookeolus japonicus. Fish caught off the Gordo I Bank, Baja California Sur, January 2022. Length: 40 cm (16 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Chip Shapley, Los Barriles, Baja California Sur.

Bulleye, Cookeolus japonicus. Fish caught from waters off Pulley Ridge, 100 miles west of the Tortugas Ecological Reserve, Florida Keys, August 2019. Length: 43 cm (17 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Bulleye, Cookeolus japonicus. Fish caught from waters off Hurricane Bank (Shimada Seamouth) 400 miles southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, March 2021. Length: 68 cm (2 feet 3 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Randy Mosteller, Manhattan Beach, California.

The Bulleye, Cookeolus japonicus, is a member of the Bigeyes or Pricanthidae Family, and is also known as the Long-fin Bigeye and the Long-fin Bulleye and in Mexico as catalufa aleta larga. Globally, there is just one species in the genus Cookeolus, this species which is found in Mexican waters of both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.

The Bulleye is named for their large eyes and are characterized by a strongly compressed, distinctively oval body that has a depth that is 40% to 44% of standard length. The Bulleye is a uniform crimson to scarlet/yellowish red color; this includes the iris of the eyes. All fins are similarly colored with tinges of yellow with black margins. Their head has a large upturned mouth with a projecting lower jaw and a large serrated bone at the front of the eye. Their anal fin is long and bluntly pointed with spotting; their dorsal fin is continuous with 10 spines, the last of which is the longest and used as a key to identification, and 12 to 14 rays, the tip of which is bluntly pointed; and their pelvic fins are disproportionately long and utilized as a key to identification as they are broadly attached by a membrane to the belly and positioned in advance of the pectoral fins. They are covered with small scales.

The Bulleye is found over and within rocky bottoms at depths between 30 m (100 feet) and 399 m (1,310 feet). They reach a maximum of 68 cm (2 feet 3 inches) in length. They are reported to be nocturnal feeders. The Bulleye 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 Bulleye is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, with the exception that they are absent from Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, northward along the central and northwest coasts of Baja. The known range of the Bulleye is poorly documented with the fish photographed helping to document their presence in the Sea of Cortez.

The Bulleye is not a difficult fish to identify due to their long pelvic fins. They are most easily confused with the Popeye Catalufa, Pristigenys serrula which has a similar oval body, very large dorsal fins, and rounded caudal and pelvic fins.

From a conservation perspective the Bulleye is currently considered to be of Least Concern with widely distributed populations. In the greater Los Cabos area of Baja California Sur they are rare and therefore of limited interest to most. I have only caught one in over 1,100 bottom fishing trips in the greater Los Cabos area. Since they are similar to the Popeye Catalufa, they are most likely considered to be very marginal table fare and only retained by subsistence fishermen and would be considered a “catch and release.”