Coral Reef Fish: Blue Runner

Video Transcript

"The marine organism we're going to identify now is the blue runner. The blue runner is a member of the jack family of fish. It is similar in size and shape to the bar jack, but lacks the blue black border the bar jack has running down its back from the dorsal fin to the lower portion of the tail. The blue runner is also distinguished by its silvery color and dark tips of its tail fins. There also may be an elongated dark spot visible near the end of the gill cover. They may also have faint dark vertical bars on their bodies. Breeding males may darken considerable. Blue runners are generally plagic fish and generally found in large schools over deep water. They are commonly found in the waters around Florida, but a lot less common in the Caribbean. They will rarely be seen by snorklers in shallow water and usually are only seen by scuba divers on the edge of deep water drop offs. If seen by divers they will generally swim by and then depart rarely hanging around the divers. They are very fast and aggressive fish. Their common prey is smaller fish and invertebrates, but schools of blue runners have been reported to attack and pick apart larger prey. They generally spawn between January and August of each year. Eggs are polagic which means they mature in the open ocean away from reefs and shorelines. That's the blue runner."