Wahoo

Wahoo feed on such pelagic species as porcupinefish, flyingfish, herring, pilchards, scad, lanternfish, and small mackerel and tuna, as well as on squid.

The wahoo grows so quickly that both sexes span sexual maturity during the first year of life. They average 10 to 30 pounds, and 4 to 5 foot lengths are common. The maximum size is 7 feet and more than 180 pounds. The alltackle world record is a 158-pound, 8-ounce fish taken off Baja California, Mexico, in 1996.

The wahoo is a popular gamefish and a close relative of the king mackerel. It is reputedly one of the fastest fish in the sea, attaining speeds of 50 miles per hour and more.

Tiger Stripes
A long, slender, cigar-shaped mackerel with a sharply sharp head and an extensively forked tail, the wahoo is a brilliant or dark blue color along its back. It has 25 to 30 bright or dusky blue vertical bands, or “tiger stripes,” that extend down the bright silver to silvery gray sides and sometimes join into pairs below.

A distinguishing feature is the movable upper jaw, which has 45 to 64 teeth, of which 32 to 50 are on the lower jaw; these teeth are large, strong, and laterally compressed. The gill structure resembles that of the marlin, but it lacks the characteristic gill rakers of the latter fish. The horizontal line is generally demarcated and drops critically at the middle of the first dorsal fin and extends in a wavy line back to the tail. The first dorsal fin is long and low and has 21 to 27 spines.