Cobia

The cobia (Rachycentron canadum) (, KOH-bee-ə) is a species of marine carangiform ray-finned fish, the only extant representative of the genus Rachycentron and the family Rachycentridae. Its other common names include black kingfish, black salmon, ling, lemonfish, crabeater, prodigal son, codfish, and black bonito.

Habitat

It is eurythermal, tolerating a wide range of temperatures, from 1.6 to 32.2 °C. It is also euryhaline, living at salinities of 5.0 to 44.5 ppt.

The cobia is normally solitary except for annual spawning aggregations, and it sometimes congregates at reefs, wrecks, harbours, buoys, and other structural oases. It is pelagic, but it may enter estuaries and mangroves in search of prey.

Distribution

It is found in warm-temperate to tropical waters of the West and East Atlantic Ocean, throughout the Caribbean, and in the Indian Ocean off the coast of India, Australia, and the Pacific coast of Japan.