bludger
Turrum gymnostethus
- Usual depth26–84 m
- Water temperature19–29 °C
- Best monthsMay, September, and October
- How commonOccasional
About this species
The bludger, also known as the bludger trevally, nakedbreast trevally or Bleeker's jackfish, is a widespread species of large marine fish in the jack family, Carangidae. The bludger inhabits the tropical and subtropical regions of the Indo-west Pacific Ocean, distributed from South Africa in the west to Japan and New Caledonia in the east. It is a large fish, growing to a maximum recorded length of 90 cm, and is very similar to the yellowspotted trevally, Carangoides fulvoguttatus, but can be separated by the complete absence of breast scales and a number of other anatomical features. The species inhabits moderately deep offshore coral and rocky reefs, where it preys on small crustaceans and fish. The reproductive biology of the species is poorly known, but it appears to move to more tropical waters to spawn. The bludger is of intermediate importance to fisheries throughout its range, taken by hook and line and various netting methods. It is of some value to anglers also, considered a good gamefish, but generally regarded as poor eating due to its soft oily flesh, which is used as bait by many anglers. The name 'bludger' is said to either refer to the blunt head of the species, or the destination of the fish when caught by professional fishermen who treat the fish as discard.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Bludger (fish)”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 87 records
- February: 58 records
- March: 25 records
- April: 77 records
- May: 233 records
- June: 76 records
- July: 14 records
- August: 222 records
- September: 279 records
- October: 311 records
- November: 89 records
- December: 65 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 26–84 m · Deepest record: 151 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 19–29 °C
Names and classification
- English
- bludger, Bludger Trevally
Names in 3 more languages
- French
- Carangue balo
- Japanese
- Andamanaji, アンダマンアジ
- Simplified Chinese
- 裸胸若鰺
Other scientific names: Carangoides gymnostethoides, Carangoides gymnostethus, Carangoides gymnosthethoides, Caranx gymnostethoides, Caranx gymnostethus
Similar species
- bluefin kingfish
Turrum coeruleopinnatum
- Albacore
Turrum fulvoguttatum
Giant trevallyCaranx ignobilis
Bluefin trevallyCaranx melampygus
Bigeye trevallyCaranx sexfasciatus
Mackerel scadDecapterus macarellus
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).
- 1,565 open-data records from 1833 to 2023.
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