Fortune Jack, Seriola peruana
Fortune Jack, Seriola peruana. Fish caught from coastal waters off Palmilla Point, Baja California Sur, April 2013. Length: 65 cm (2 feet 2 inches).
Fortune Jack, Seriola peruana. Fish caught from coastal waters off Loreto, Baja California Sur, June 2022. Length: 68 cm (2 feet 3 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Chris Wheaton, Fullerton, California.
Fortune Jack, Seriola peruana. Fish caught from coastal waters off Loreto, Baja California Sur, February 2014. Weight: 13.6 kg (30 pounds). Catch courtesy of Rafael Martinez Murillo, Loreto. Photograph and identification courtesy of Chris Wheaton, Fullerton, California.
Fortune Jack, Seriola peruana. Fish caught from coastal waters out of 420-foot water off the San Luis Bank, Baja California Sur, May 2024. Length: 92 cm (3 feet 0 inches). Weight: 9.1 kg (20 pounds). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Chip Shapley, Los Barriles, Baja California Sur. This fish was caught at a depth that establishes a new depth record for this species. Although not accurately measured this fish might actually also be longer than 92 cm that would be a length extension for the species.
The Fortune Jack, Seriola peruana, is a member of the Jack or Carangidae Family, that is also known as the Darkfin Amberjack and in Mexico as medregal fortuno or just amberjack. Globally, there are nine members of the genus Seriola, of which six are found in Mexican waters, three in the Atlantic, two in the Pacific, and this species found in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
The Fortune Jack has a compressed aerodynamic elongated fusiform body that is wide in the middle and taper at both ends and have a depth that is 25% to 29% of standard length. Their upper body profile is more convex than their lower profile. They are silvery with a reddish bronze tint and dusky fins. Their head has a short rounded snout and their mouth ends just behind the center of the pupil. Their anal fin has 2 standalone spines follow by 1 spine and 20 to 22 rays; their caudal fin has a slender base and is strongly forked; their first dorsal fin has 7 or 8 spines; their second dorsal fin has 1 spine and 31 to 35 rays; and, their pectoral fins are short. Their anal and dorsal fins have long bases with the anal fin base being shorter than the second dorsal fin base. They have 9 to 11 gill rakers on the upper arch and 21 to 23 gill rakers on the lower arch. There have no isolated finlets after the second dorsal and anal fins, no lateral line and no scutes.
The Fortune Jack is a coastal pelagic species found at depths up to 128 m (420 feet) with this maximum depth established by the fish pictured above. They reach a maximum of 92 cm (3 feet 0 inches) in length. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 11.4 kg (25 lbs 2 oz) with the fish caught from coastal waters off Peru, March 2021. The fish photographed above weighted 13.6 kg (30 lbs) on an unofficial scale. The Fortune Jack 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 Fortune Jack was a known resident of the Pacific Ocean but thought to be found only in Peruvian waters until recreational anglers, including myself, started catching them from Todos Santos to Mulegé, Baja California Sur, in coastal Baja waters.
The Fortune Jack is most likely confused with the Amberjack, Seriola rivoliana (deeper body; longer anal and dorsal fins; most fish with dark stripe from snout to front of dorsal fin).
From a conservation perspective the Fortune Jack is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. In Mexican waters they are caught infrequently but a strong fishing foe that are considered to be excellent food fish.