Pacific Crevalle Jack, Caranx caninus

Pacific Crevalle Jack, Caranx caninus, Juvenile. Fish caught off the beach at Km 21, Cabo Real, Baja California Sur, July 2010. Length: 18 cm (7.1 inches).

Pacific Crevalle Jack, Caranx caninus, Juvenile. Fish caught off the beach Agua Verde, Baja California Sur, March 2019. Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Barry Mastro, Escondido, California.

Pacific Crevalle Jack, Caranx caninus, Juvenile. Underwater photograph taken in Zihuantanejo Bay, Guerrero, March 2018. Photograph courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuantanejo.

Pacific Crevalle Jack, Caranx caninus, Juvenile. Fish caught from coastal waters off Mazatlán, Sinaloa, October 2021. Length: 31 cm (12 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Bart, The Netherlands  (worldangler.eu).

Pacific Crevalle Jack, Caranx caninus. Fish caught off the beach at Km 21, Cabo Real, Baja California Sur, July 2010. Length: 35 cm (14 inches).

Pacific Crevalle Jack, Caranx caninus. Fish caught from shore off Roca de Ian, Bahia de Los Muertos, Baja California Sur, January 2020. Length: 89 cm (2 feet 11 inches). Weight: 11.5 kg (25 lbs 2 oz).  Catch courtesy of Brad Murakami, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. Photograph courtesy of Ian Franck, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.

Pacific Crevalle Jack, Caranx caninus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, February 2023. Length: 96 cm (3 feet 2 inches). Catch and photograph courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Peoria, Illinois.

Pacific Crevalle Jack, Caranx caninus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Point Palmilla, Baja California Sur, June 2021. Length:  97 cm (3 feet 2 inches). Weight: 14.5 kg (32 pounds). Catch courtesy of Mauricio Correa, Los Cabos, Baja California Sur.

Pacific Crevalle Jack, Caranx caninus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Cerralvo Island, Baja California Sur, May 2010. Length was not measured but estimated from the photo to be greater than the current world record for this species. Length: ca. 1.00 m (3 feet 3 inches). Photograph courtesy of Guy Manning, Redding, California.

Pacific Crevalle Jack, Caranx caninus. Fish caught off the beach on a swimbait north of Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, November 2017. Length was not measured but estimated from the photo to be greater than the current world record for this species. Length: ca. 1.04 m (3 feet 5 inches). Photograph courtesy of Dr. John Warner, Colorado Springs, Colorado and caught with guide Martin Almazan.

Pacific Crevalle Jack, Caranx caninus. Underwater photograph taken in Zihuantanejo Bay, Guerrero, December 2019. Photograph courtesy of Maude Jette, Dive Zihuantanejo,   www.Divezihuantanejo.com.

Pacific Crevalle Jack, Caranx caninus. Underwater photograph taken in coastal waters off Loreto, Baja California Sur, October 2024. Photograph courtesy of Bob Hillis, Ivins, Utah.

The Pacific Crevalle Jack, Caranx caninus, is a fairly common member of the Jack or Carangidae Family, that is known in Mexico as jurel toro or just toro. Globally, there are seventeen species in the genus Caranx, of which nine are found in Mexican waters, three in the Atlantic and five in the Pacific, and one in both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.

The Pacific Crevalle Jack has a “jack-like” moderately compressed deep oblong body that has a depth that is 30% to 34% of standard length. They are greenish-blue dorsally and silvery-white to yellow on their lower sides. They have a black spot on their gill cover and a black blotch on the lower corner of their pectoral fins. Their anal and caudal fins are yellowish. Juveniles are darker in color and have 5 light colored stripes on their sides (as pictured above). They have a rounded head with a blunt snout. They have fairly small eyes set high on their head. Their mouth is large extending past the eyes and opens at the front. Their anal fin has 2 standalone spines followed by 1 spine and 16 or 17 rays; their caudal fin has a slender base and is deeply forked; their first dorsal fin has 8 spines; their second dorsal fin has 1 spine and 19 to 21 rays; and, their pectoral fins are longer than the head. They have 6 to 8 gill rakers on the upper arch and 15 to 19 gill rakers on the lower arch. They have 35 to 42 strong prominent scutes and a pronounced lateral line with a moderately long anterior arch.

The Pacific Crevalle Jack is a pelagic species found at depths up to 335 m (1,100 feet). They reach a maximum of 1.02 meters (3 feet 4 inches) in length and 19.7 kg (43 lbs) in weight. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record for length stood at 87 cm (2 feet 10 inches) with the fish caught from coastal waters off Panama in July 2012. The corresponding world record for weight stood at 17.69 kg (39 lbs 0 oz) with the fish caught from coastal waters off Costa Rica in March 1997. I personally believe that a world record Pacific Crevalle Jack is current swimming in Los Cabos waters and needs to be caught and documented. The Pacific Crevalle 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.

In Mexican waters the Pacific Crevalle Jack is a resident of all waters of the Pacific Ocean.

The Pacific Crevalle Jack is virtually identical to the Crevalle Jack, Caranx hippos, an Atlantic Ocean only species (35 to 42 gill rakers; 23 to 35 scutes). It can also be confused with the Bigeye Trevally, Caranx sexfasciatus (narrower body; large eyes; smaller black spot high on gill cover) and the Golden Trevally, Gnathanodon speciosus (large lips; no black spot on gill cover; mid-sized black spots on sides) from the Pacific Ocean.

From a conservation perspective the Pacific Crevalle Jack is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are one of the most famous species in Mexican waters known for their strength and targeted by recreational fishermen. They travel in large schools and crash the beach chasing sardines in feeding frenzies that last about 15 minutes. Excellent opportunities exist to hook these fish with a “Krocodile” or live sardines. They are considered marginal table fare by locals and normally a “catch and release” by all but subsistence fishermen or if tourists are present in the docking area.

Length versus Weight Chart: A Pacific Crevalle Jack Length to Weight Table is included in this website to allow the accurate determination of a fish’s weight from its length and to hopefully promote its rapid and unharmed return to the ocean. I believe that the world record fish currently resides in greater Los Cabos waters and catches of large fish need to be monitored, measured, weighed, and documented appropriately.