Rainbow Runner

Familia: Jacks and Pompanos (Carangidae)
Tamaño: Up to 120 cm (47 in) | Común 80 cm
Profundidad: 0 – 150m (Surface to 490ft)

Distribución: Circumtropical pelagic; widely distributed throughout the Eastern Tropical Pacific (including Malpelo and the Chocó coast).

Identificación: A sleek, fast-moving pelagic predator easily recognized by its racing stripes.

• Torpedo Shape: Unlike the deep, flat bodies of most jacks, the Rainbow Runner is highly elongated and built for sustained high-speed swimming.
• The "Rainbow" Stripes: The body is bluish-green above and white below, highlighted by two distinct light blue horizontal stripes separated by a broader yellowish or olive band running from head to tail.
• Yellow Fins: Look for the deeply forked, bright yellow tail (caudal fin) and yellowish pectoral fins.

Comportamiento: Open-ocean wanderers that occasionally visit the reef.

• Pelagic Schooling: They are highly pelagic, usually cruising near the surface in small to massive schools, actively hunting for small baitfish, cephalopods, and pelagic crustaceans.
• Reef Visitors: While they live in the open ocean, schools frequently sweep past offshore rocky pinnacles and outer reefs along Bahia Solano to hunt or utilize cleaning stations.