Bluefish
Scientific name: Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus, 1766)
Overview
The bluefish is the only extant species of the family Pomatomidae. It is a marine pelagic fish found around the world in temperate and subtropical waters, except for the northern Pacific Ocean. Bluefish are known as tailor in Australia and New Zealand, elf and shad in South Africa. It is a popular gamefish and food fish.
From the Wikipedia article “Bluefish”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Conservation status
Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, as recorded on Wikidata, citing The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.2.
Common names
Also known in English as Ancho, blue fish, Choppers, Elf, Fatback, Greenfish, Horse Mackerel, Horsemackerel, Jumbos, Marine Piranha, Razorbacks, Salmon Bluefish.
Names in other languages (10)
- Arabic
- سمكة زرقاء
- Chinese
- 扁鰺, 鯥
- French
- Coupe-fil, tassergal
- German
- Blaufisch
- Japanese
- オキスズキ
- Persian
- آبفام
- Portuguese
- anchova, Pomatomidae
- Russian
- Луфарь, Луфарь обыкновенный
- Spanish
- Anchoa de Banco, anchova de banco, anjova, anjova de banco, Pez Azul, Pomatomidae
- Turkish
- Lüfer
Related animals
Sources
-
Catalogue of Life — scientific name, classification, common names.
Version 2026-09-11, CC BY 4.0.
This species in the Catalogue of Life.
Citation
Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Aedo, C., Aescht, E., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (Version 2026-09-11). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgz5n Source database: FishBase.
- GBIF — species page and recorded occurrences.
- Wikidata — conservation status, names in other languages. Q461432, CC0 1.0.
- Wikipedia — overview, from the article “Bluefish”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo — SEFSC Pascagoula Laboratory; Collection of Brandi Noble, NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
Last updated: 4 October 2026