Official circular logo of Ankla Azul Diving Center, featuring a wave, anchor, dive flag, and the text "It's more than just kicking your fins."

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Rainbow Runner

Elagatis bipinnulata

An underwater side-profile photograph of a Rainbow Runner swimming in clear blue water, displaying its sleek, torpedo-shaped body, distinctive horizontal blue and yellow stripes, and a deeply forked yellow tail.
A crisp underwater photograph of a Rainbow Runner gliding slightly upward through bright blue water, highlighting its silvery underside, vibrant blue and yellow lateral lines, and yellow forked tail.

Adult

Family: Jacks and Pompanos (Carangidae)
Size: Up to 120 cm (47 in) | Common: 80 cm
Depth: 0 – 150m (Surface to 490ft)

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

Identification: 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.

Behavior: 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.

You just learned about this fish...

NOW COME SEE IT!

Fun Dive Cover page in Bahia Solano
Fun Dive Cover page in Bahia Solano
Fun Dive Cover page in Bahia Solano

Behind the Lens

Jalvan

Underwater Photographer & Instructor

Documenting unique marine biodiversity from the Red Sea across the Pacific Ocean. Dedicated to creating a visual catalog of Bahia Solano's marine life for conservation and research.

Photography: Sony A7C II | Olympus EPL10
Video: Osmo Action 5 Pro | GoPro

Follow my work:

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REFERENCES & DATA SOURCES

  • Scientific ID: Verified via FishBase (Froese & Pauly) & Regional Eastern Pacific data.
  • Field Guide: Reef Fish Identification: Baja to Panama (Humann & DeLoach).
  • Conservation Status: IUCN Red List (Least Concern).
  • Regional Data: Ankla Azul Marine Observation Log (Bahia Solano).

More Than Kicking Your Fins

At Ankla Azul, diving is more than kicking your fins. It's patient teaching, sharp safety, and real care for the place we call home. As an SSI Instructor Training Center and an SSI Blue Oceans Center (2025 award), we blend skill-building with ocean awareness—Fish ID, coral nursery work, community education, and rescue support—so every dive grows confidence and respect for Bahía Solano's wild Pacific.