Japanese amberjack

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TheJapanese amberjack oryellowtail,Seriola quinqueradiata, is a species ofjack fish in the familyCarangidae, native to the northwestPacific Ocean. It is known asshiyu (鰤魚) inChina,bang'eo (방어) inKorea, andburi (鰤) orhamachi (魬) inJapan.

Japanese amberjack

Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)^[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Carangiformes
Suborder:	Carangoidei
Family:	Carangidae
Genus:	Seriola
Species:	S. quinqueradiata
Binomial name
*Seriola quinqueradiata* Temminck &Schlegel, 1845
Synonyms^[2]
Seriola spartaJenkins, 1903

Global aquaculture production of Japanese amberjack (*Seriola quinqueradiata*) in thousand tonnes from 1950 to 2022, as reported by theFAO^[3]

Although it is frequently listed on menus as "yellowtail tuna", it is a fish of an entirely different family, the Carangidae, rather than the familyScombridae that includestunas,mackerels, andbonitos.^[4]

Description

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Japanese amberjack usually grows to around 1 meter in length, though some can reach 1.5 meters. They have a characteristic yellow band that runs horizontally along the length of the body, as well as a yellow tail, hence their name.

Juvenile Japanese amberjack
Japanese amberjack, painting byKawahara Keiga (川原慶賀), 1823–1829

As food

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The fish is highly appreciated inJapan, where it is calledhamachi orburi. They are eaten either cooked or raw and are a seasonal favourite in the colder months when the meat has a higher fat content. Amberjack is typically thought of as a winter delicacy ofToyama and theHokuriku region.

Some of the fish consumed are caught wild, but a substantial amount is farmed (about 120,000tonnes per year). To populate the pens, every May, workers fish for the small wild fry (calledmojako), which can be found under floatingseaweed. They scoop out the seaweed together with themojako and put themojako in cages in the sea.^[5]

The small fry grow until they reach 10 to 50 grams in mass; the fry are calledinada in eastern Japan (Kantō). They are then sold to aquaculturists, who grow them until they reach 3 kilograms (youth, calledhamachi) or 5 kilograms (adult, calledburi).