A deep-bodied amberjack with a dark band through the eye, in ones and twos over offshore pinnacles.
To about 160 cm. Deeper-bodied than the other amberjacks and strongly compressed, with the upper profile distinctly more convex than the lower and a long pointed snout. A dark oblique band runs from the snout through the eye to the start of the dorsal fin. Juveniles carry about six dark bars.
The character that carries at range is the front lobe of the second dorsal fin: tall, curved and scythe-like, a fifth to a quarter of the fish’s length. The yellowtail kingfish has a low lobe and a bronze-to-yellow stripe along the side instead.
Three to over three hundred metres, on outer reef slopes, offshore banks and in the water above them, usually in small groups. Juveniles shelter under floating objects.
Ciguatera is reported from it, particularly from fish taken on coral reefs.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.