Koheru

About this species

The kōheru, also known as the scad, is a ray-finned fish of the genus Decapterus, part of the family Carangidae. It is endemic to New Zealand where it occurs from Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands to southern North Island. This is a schooling, pelagic species of coastal waters where it is found within shallow bays, harbours, estuaries and near rocky reefs and offshore islands at depths of between 2 and 90 metres. Juveniles prefer rocky inshore areas, while adults are known to form dense schools in offshore waters. The maximum fork length is 40.3 centimetres (15.9 in). They live to around 10 years and juveniles growth quickly, attaining a fork length of 37 centimetres (15 in) by the time they are three years old. They feed on zooplankton. It is a species of minor interest to commercial fisheries but is taken by recreational anglers.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Kōheru”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 25 records
February: 34 records
March: 27 records
April: 45 records
May: 15 records
June: 8 records
July: 2 records
August: 3 records
September: 8 records
October: 27 records
November: 31 records
December: 14 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 6–18 m · Deepest record: 69 m

0–10 m: 34 records
10–20 m: 43 records
20–30 m: 6 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 15–18 °C

14–16 °C: 1 records
16–18 °C: 94 records
18–20 °C: 6 records

Photos

(c) Shaun Lee, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) ttsquid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Oscar Dove, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Oscar Dove, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Luca Davenport-Thomas, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Koheru

Names in 1 more languages

Simplified Chinese: 寶圓鰺

Other scientific names: Caranx koheru

Similar species

Mackerel scad
Decapterus macarellus
Indian scad
Decapterus russelli
Shortfin scad
Decapterus macrosoma
Japanese scad
Decapterus maruadsi
Amberstripe scad
Decapterus muroadsi
Akaads' Scad
Decapterus akaadsi

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
101 open-data records from 1965 to 2013.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.