Green Jobfish, Aprion virescens Valenciennes 1830

Other Names: Green Job-fish, Jobfish, Job-fish

A Green Jobfish, Aprion virescens, from Cato Island, off Rockhampton, Queensland, April 2018. Source: jimpennie / iNaturalist.org. License: CC By Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:

This popular and excellent eating sportsfish is a tenacious fighter when hooked - however, large individuals may cause ciguatera poisoning.

Identifying features:
Dark green to bluish or bluish-grey, underside paler;
Spinous dorsal fin with black blotches;
Body slender, cylindrical, tail deeply forked;
Head elongate, snout relatively blunt, a distinct horizontal groove in front of eye;
Jaws with large canine teeth;
Large diamond-shaped scales on body, those on back parallel with lateral line.

Cite this page as:

Dianne J. Bray, Aprion virescens in Fishes of Australia, accessed 24 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/1237

Green Jobfish, Aprion virescens Valenciennes 1830

More Info

Distribution	Known in Australian waters from northwestern Australia (Ningaloo Reef to Rowley Shoals, Scott Reef and Ashmore and Cartier Islands in the Timor Sea) and from the northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland to about Wooli, New South Wales. Also at Lord Howe Island and Middleton Reef, Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Island. Elsewhere widespread in the Indo-west-central-Pacific from the Red Sea and East Africa to the Tuamotos and Hawaii. Green Jobfish are often solitary, although they may occur in small groups. They usually prefer the open waters of reef channels, outer slopes, dropoffs and deep lagoons, in depths of 2-180 m.
Features	Meristic features: Dorsal-fin spines/rays: X, 11 Anal-fin rays: III, 8 Preopercle edge smooth or sometimes denticulate in juveniles, and a distinct horizontal groove in front of eye. Dorsal and anal fins without scales. Scale rows on back parallel with lateral line.
Colour	Dark greenish to bluish or bluish-grey, fading to white below. Bases of five posterior dorsal-fin spines with black patches.
Feeding	Carnivore - feed mostly on fishes, crabs, shrimps and cephalopods.
Fisheries	Green Jobfish are commercially important throughout their range, and are also a popular sports fish. Usually marketed fresh, but also dried and salted. Green Jobfish are excellent eating, although large individuals may cause ciguatera poisoning.
Conservation	EPBC Act 1999 : Not listed IUCN Red List : Not Evaluated
Similar Species	Differs from the Rusty Jobfish, Aphareus rutilans, in having dark patches along dorsal-fin base, a blunter snout, and a less deeply forked tail.
Species Citation	Aprion virescens Valenciennes, 1830, Hist. Nat. Poiss. 6: 544, pl. 168.Type locality: Seychelles.
Author	Dianne J. Bray

Green Jobfish, Aprion virescens Valenciennes 1830

References

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