The blue fish also called tailor or snapper, is the only member of the family Pomatomidae (order Perciformes). Learn why he is one of the favorite fish by actresses and models, and all the people who are passionate about the fitness world, so fashionable in these times.
If it’s already beneficial to include fish in our basic diet, even more so it’s to include a species that not only gives us a lot of benefits for our health, but also allows us to save money, not being as expensive as the other fish that are equally appetizing.
If you are thinking of going on a dietary regimen for a week, it’s time that you know about blue fish, as it will be very useful for your purposes, and we assure you that you will be surprised with the results obtained.
Table Of Content
Taxonomy
Animalia Kingdom Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Perciformes Family: Pomatomidae, Genus: Pomatomus Species: Pomatomus saltatrix
Common names:
Spanish: Anjova, Chova, Dorado
♦ Catalan: Tallahms
♦ Italian: Pesce Serra
♦ Portuguese: Anchova, Enchova
♦ French: Tassergal
♦ English: Bluefish
♦ German: Blaufish, Wolfsbarsch
♦ Japanese: Amikiri, Okisuzuki, Okisade
The Blue fish Main Characteristics
The blue fish is a member of the pomatomidae family and is a species of fish very difficult to distinguish, since both sexes are the same size, and with the same pattern of colors. They are native to the American coasts, and European-African Atlantic Ocean.
These fish can live up to fourteen years, and reach their sexual maturity at two years of life.
It’s worth mentioning that when snappers are one year old measure approximately twenty-five centimeters, and they weigh almost two kilograms.
Then, when they are five years old, they measure sixty-five centimeters, and weigh three and a half kilograms.
Finally, when these wonderful fishes are 10 years old or more they reach almost ninety centimeters, and their maximum weight is ten kilograms.
These fish have been considered primitive relatives of tunas , but their exact relationship with other fish is still to be discussed. We invite you to read our article the anatomy of fish to learn about such an interesting topic.
Other Traits
Their name isn’t totally related to their color since the blue fish have a greenish blue coloration that 
turns dark blue on their back, and silvery white on their lower body.
Their body is covered with relatively small scales and a straight lateral line. Moreover, they have a dorsal fin and an anal fin, and their tail is slightly bifurcated.
One of the characteristics that distinguish the blue fish is that its lower jaw is extended downwards, and is aligned with the lower jaw with extremely sharp teeth.
Like most bony and cartilaginous fish, the blue fish usually inhabits warm and warm waters of the western Atlantic Ocean, from Nova Scotia to Uruguay and on the West African coast. . Yet, they are also found in the Mediterranean, and Black seas In the Indian Ocean, as well as in Tasmania and Australia.
Let’s meet them
How Blue fish Reproduce?
The spawning of blue fish takes place between the months of June and August when the water temperatures reach between 64ºF and 72ºF..
It mainly occurs on the high seas, specifically on the continental shelf. Once the eggs have hatched the larvae remain on the water’s surface, so they are swept by the prevailing currents along the 
entire continental shelf.
Fertility, or the number of eggs that a female produces, is closely related to its size.
A female measuring fifty-two centimeters can easily produce nine hundred thousand eggs; while one that measures about sixty centimeters, can spawn more than one million eggs in a single season.
What do Blue fish Feed On?
The blue fish is a powerful predator of other fish; Juveniles usually feed on small shrimps, anchovies, and other mollusks, while adults eat black tetra fish Atlantic mackerel, anchovies, and other young fish.
There are more than seventy species of fish and invertebrates, that have been found in the stomach of the blue fish.
They usually feed on schools, actively chasing prey at low tides, or in shallow waters, where their food is much easier to catch.
It’s important to point out that this species has a legendary eating habit, as they have the reputation of violently breaking the schools of fish, biting, paralyzing and killing a large number of fish, larger than they are able to eat.
Their hunting strategy consists in driving their preys to the shallower coastal areas, where it’s easier to paralyze and capture the fish that try to escape from their lunges..
Where do Blue Fish Inhabit?
Blue fish are found in all oceanic and coastal waters except the eastern and northwest Pacific. Adults can be found in estuaries and brackish water, but they are more common in clean, high-energy waters, such as surfing beaches and rocky headlands
They live in coastal areas and offshore of coastal regions at temperatures ranging between 66 and 72 degrees F. They can tolerate low temperature waters and at the same time maintain a body temperature of up to forty degrees Celsius.
The Youngest specimens (first year of life) can be obtained most of the year in estuaries, along the coast, and in the mouths of rivers.
When they begin to grow they also begin to migrate, and the larger they are, the distances they travel are also larger.
This species normally travels in large schools that can contain up to several thousand individuals. Bluefish shows an annual migration pattern that is apparently the key to seasonal warming and cooling of coastal waters.
Larger fish initially inhabit deeper waters, but move progressively towards the coast in shallow areas as summer progresses. Although many adult fish migrate south during the fall, their majority migratory movement seems to be offshore towards the warmer waters of the continental shelf.
Tips for fishing Blue fish
The blue fish is caught in large quantities by fishermen, especially between the months of May and November, where they are more accessible either on the beaches, bays, and out to sea.
Fishermen specializing in this technique argue that this fish can be fished from a boat, or on the shore, along the entire port, the beach, the jetty, and on the city dock.
However, since they have sharp teeth, wire should be used to hook the blue fish.
It’s proven that the best catches are achieved between the months of July to September, and from a ship, because those that are out to sea are usually the largest. For this reason, deep-sea fishermen put plug and tube lures, as well as deep dusters, which are required to reach the blue fish.
The fly fishing is the most common technique to catch this species.
It’s highly recommended to keep in mind that bite protectors are an absolute necessity when aiming at bluefish.
Many fishermen like wire, and it certainly has utility for this type of fishing. However eighty-pound test hard mono is the best option for this species. It’s quite resistant to abrasion and has the additional advantage of being less bothersome for incidental species such as striped bass that tends to inhabit many of the same places as blues.
Let’s wacth and enjoy how they catch this species…
Handling Blue Fish
After the capture, the viscera should be removed immediately, to preserve as much as possible the quality of the meat, and therefore its flavor.
For such reasons, it should also be frozen in a cellar, once they are cleaned, and take care that 
the content water in it’s not heated, because this fish has a very delicate meat, which with bad manipulation can become lean.
In the kitchen
This fish can be marinated in acidic liquids such as vinegar, or lemon or lime juice, and of course in wine. This is to preserve the flavor of their meat for a long time, and if you prefer, make a delicious Peruvian ceviche.
In any case, the blue fish can also be cooked with fresh vegetables, such as tomatoes, onions, chives and leeks, this in order to retain its flavors to the maximum, and using it in oils that complement the nutritional values of the meat of this fish.
Nutritional values of blue fish per serving (100 g)
♦ Energy value 124.0 kcal
♦ Total fat 4.24 g
♦ Saturated Fatty Acids 0.915 g
♦ 0.0 g carbohydrates
♦ 20.04 g protein
♦ Salt 60.0 mg
Other Fish with Blue Color on Their Body
Let’s meet other blue colored fish
Lampreys:
Lampreys are primitive fish that have no jaw (agnatos), very similar to the eels (int, although very different inside, and with a gelatinous and very slippery body, without scales and cylindrical.
Their mouth has horny teeth and is in the form of a suction cup; this is how the lamprey fixes his prey( always alive), to which he sucks the blood from which he feeds.
It’s not uncommon to see it attached to sharks, salmon , cod and marine mammals.
Lamprey is an anadromous species, that is, it lives in the sea but reproduces in the river. In general, it prefers high flow rivers, with not too fast waters and is placed in the low and medium sections.
The sea lamprey swims across the North Atlantic, on both sides of the ocean. However, the increase in artificial barriers and marine pollution has caused the area of lamprey distribution to have significantly decreased
Other Species of lamprey
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Caspian lamprey (Caspiomyzon wagneri)
This species inhabits the coastal waters of the Caspian. Its meat is poisonous and requires special treatment before cooking.
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River lamprey (ENG)
It lives on the shores of Western Europe. This is a species that is increasingly scarce and there are doubts about its presence.
The River lamprey reaches a length of about 50 centimeters. It has a toxic skin mucus that must be removed along with the skin before cooking.
Let’s meet them
Bonito Fish
This is a blue fish of tropical water, which, like the others in its class, provides a lot of benefits to human beings.
The properties in its meat make “bonito fish” one of the favorites of most people, and for this reason, its caught provides good commercial remuneration to those who are dedicated to its sale.
The bonitos’ robust and full of scales body in its pectoral and abdominal area, makes it very similar appearance to tuna, both species being differentiated by the small yellowish stripes that extend to the tail of the bonito fish.
This fish has a high commercial value because of the amount of properties it provides to the organism.
However, compared to other fish that have the same quality, the bonito fish is much cheaper; since it can measure up to three meters long, and is much easier to get than others. We invite you to read our article bonito fish to learn more about this species.
Herrings
These fish belong to the clupeidae family, and at first their name referred to Atlantic herring, and Pacific herring, because they were considered different species, but at present, they are defined as a subspecies.
Herrings are small-headed, with an aerodynamic body, since it’s longer than wide, and possesses a spectacular color.
They have iridescent silver sides, and the back of their body has a deep metallic blue color.
Their snout is blackish blue, the belly is silver, and its lower jaw protrudes slightly above the upper one.
The herring has a short posterior fin, an anal fin near the tail, which is also very short, and a tail fin that is deeply forked.
This fish has soft covers on the gills, and rounded keel scales along the edge of its belly; which differentiates them from sardines, which have radial lines on the gill covers.
Adults can measure between twenty and thirty-eight centimeters long; and believe it or not, this is one of the most abundant fish species in the world since they are found in all the seas of the planet.
Sword Fish (Xiphias gladius)
The swordfish is one of the most popular species of fish around the world. This fish can be blue or black, with the exception of its belly that is silver colored.
It differs from other fish by having a long pointed beak that makes-up a third of its body, this being the characteristic by which it receives its name.
Xiphias gladiusa has a very good dorsal fin and lacks pelvic fins. Another feature is the fusion and extension of the bones that makes-up its upper jaw.
Its size reaches 4 or 5 meters, being females larger than males. Due to its large size, this fast fish can swim at a speed of up to 100 km / h.
The swordfish is homeothermal which allows it to maintain the temperature of its body and its brain above the water where ot lives.
As for its behavior, it is a very aggressive and voracious fish, which uses its beak and its speed, to attack its prey and defend itself from predators.
Let’s meet them
Tuna
This is a fish that can be distinguished very well by the pattern of colors that its body has, which has seven longitudinal dark stripes on its belly, which differ from the others.
On the other hand the color of his back is dark, but it’s attenuated above the pectoral fin, to complete fade in the center of his body; and both his belly and sides are silver.
The tuna fish reach maturity at one year of life, when males measure forty-five centimeters and females forty-two centimeters; and like the butterflyfish , they can live up to fifteen years.
Among the main habits of tuna, it worth mentioning its pleasure to swim in the mixed layers of the seas and oceans, so it can be seen in tropical waters worldwide. It’s for this reason that tuna is one of the best known fish, and most consumed among fish lovers.
We invite you to read our article tuna fish to learn about this species.
Sardine
Like tunas, these fish are highly consumed throughout the world, because they are also present in all continents. Despite being the food of most fish, sardines can be counted by millions, and they are an excellent food, thanks to the vitamins and minerals that they provide to humans.
Its body is covered with reflective silver scales, which are responsible for giving the bright appearance to their flat body, while those that are located on their belly are arranged irregularly.
These fish feed by filtering the food that passes with the water through their gills, other foods ingesting other foods in a conventional way.
Sardines are scattered all over the world, but it’s in the Asian continent where most of them are found, specifically in China, India, Indonesia and Japan.
Sardines are marine water fish, but some of their species tolerate fresh water very well; so they are able to migrate and inhabit them.
When they are born they feed on plankton, but as they grow, they change their eating habits.
This curious fish is very intelligent because many times it appears to be fatigued and when a boat approaches it, it crosses with its pointed sword wooden planks of up to 5 cm thick.
Let’s enjoy them
Economic Importance of Blue Fish
Fishery
Blue fish are economically essential not only as a sport, but also, and more importantly, as a food. Their aggressive eating habits and epic battles trying to avoid being caught make their fishing a very exciting and popular sport.
Each year, about sixty-five million kilograms of this species are caught by fishermen.
In the United States, as in many other parts of the world, blue fish accounts for approximately one percent of commercial fishing landings.
Gastronomy
Blue fish are the quintessential ones that contain the best meat in the world, and the least amount of fat, so most people prefer them not only in their daily basic diet, but also when they need to lose weight, or when for reasons of illness they need to eat healthier.
Baked blue fish
Ingredients:
♦ 1 Blue Fish
♦ 1 tomato.
♦ 1/2 onion of good size.
♦ 2 green peppers
♦ 1/2 red pepper
♦ Two quarters of white wine.
♦ 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
♦ Lemon slices.
♦ Virgin olive oil and salt.
Elaboration:
◊ put a little bit of olive oil, on a tray and on this, we toss the chopped vegetables, that is, the onion, the tomato and the peppers.
◊ put them in the oven throwing on them a little of oil and a little salt. For this part we will preheat the oven at 200º C for 10 minutes and put them in for another 10 minutes.
√ Once we have given the first heat to the vegetables, we take them out and put the blue fish on them, which we add salt and oil and sprinkle with cilantro on top.
√ We also add a little of white wine and put it back in the oven at the same temperature for 25-30 minutes (We recommend you to watch the fish in the final part).
√ put some lemon slices on top.
√With this and once we take it out, we already have the dish made.
Let’s learn another one