Bigeye trevally (Caranx sexfasciatus), illustration

Sport fishing Caranx sexfasciatus

Bigeye trevally in Los Cabos

A big-eyed night hunter that spends its days milling in tight schools along the reef. At Cabo Pulmo, thousands gather in a spinning wall of silver that divers call the fish tornado.

Up to 120 cmMax length

31 lb 8 ozIGFA world record

11 yearsMax recorded age

5 per dayLimit per angler

Season in Los Cabos

Jan●Feb●Mar●Apr●May●Jun●Jul●Aug●Sep●Oct●Nov●Dec●

●● best months · ● regular · · occasional. Based on local fishing reports; conditions change year to year.

Tap a month to see everything biting in Cabo that month ›

How to recognize it

Elongate, compressed silver body, iridescent blue-green on the back. A very large eye with a well-developed fatty eyelid, a dark dorsal-fin lobe with a white tip, a small blackish spot at the top of the gill opening and a row of 27 to 36 strong, usually dark scutes near the tail. The breast is fully scaled. Juveniles are golden yellow with 4 to 7 dark vertical bars.

Biology

The bigeye trevally lives across the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans, from the Red Sea and East Africa to the Americas. In the eastern Pacific it ranges from southwestern Baja California to Ecuador and the Galápagos, including the lower Gulf of California. It’s found on reefs and over soft bottoms, from the surface to about 146 m.

Adults form schools during the day and hunt alone at night, eating mainly fish, squid and crustaceans. Juveniles grow up in estuaries and sometimes enter rivers. It matures at around 42 cm, can live 11 years and has been recorded up to 120 cm and 18 kg.

Things you probably didn't know

The Cabo Pulmo tornado

At Cabo Pulmo, bigeye trevally gather by the thousands to mate and reproduce, forming the swirling schools photographed by marine scientist Octavio Aburto.

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The biggest comeback: predators

Cabo Pulmo has been a protected marine park since 1995; about a third is a strict no-take zone, and the community keeps almost all of it free of fishing. Between 1999 and 2009 its fish biomass rose 463%, and its top predators increased about elevenfold.

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Social by day, solo by night

Bigeye trevally school during the day but split up to feed alone after dark. Those oversized eyes are built for hunting in low light.

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Named for its stripes

Sexfasciatus means “six-banded” in Latin, after the dark bars on the juveniles. Adults lose them and turn silver.

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A saltwater fish that visits rivers

Juveniles grow up in estuaries and occasionally swim up into rivers before moving out to the reefs.

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Half a planet of range

It’s one of the Indo-Pacific fish that crossed the whole ocean: the same species lives from East Africa to the Americas, from southern California to northern Peru.

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Photos

Bigeye trevally, photo 1 (Parque Nacional Cabo Pulmo, Cabo Pulmo) — iNaturalist contributor · iNaturalist · CC0

Bigeye trevally, photo 2 (Los Frailes, BCS) — Bill Levine · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0

Bigeye trevally, photo 3 (Cabo Pulmo, 23570 La Ribera) — Bill Levine · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0

Bigeye trevally, photo 4 (Cabo Pulmo, Los Cabos) — iNaturalist contributor · iNaturalist · CC0

Bigeye trevally, photo 5 (Cabo Pulmo, 23570 La Ribera) — Bill Levine · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0

How it's caught in Los Cabos

Bigeye trevally hold along rocky reefs, points and drop-offs, where schools mill in place during the day. They’re caught as a bonus on inshore trips alongside other jacks and reef fish.

Cast poppers, stickbaits or jigs at the edge of the school, or drift live bait. They hunt hardest in low light, so early mornings tend to be best. Like every jack, it pulls hard and dives for structure, so keep the drag firm. Sport fishing is not allowed inside Cabo Pulmo National Park.

On the table

Edible and sold fresh, dried, salted or frozen in its range. FishBase lists reports of ciguatera poisoning for this species.

Rules, records & conservation

Daily limit (NOM-017-PESC-1994)	Up to 5 per angler per day, within the 10-fish total
IUCN Red List	Least Concern (2018)
IGFA all-tackle record	31 lb 8 oz (14.3 kg), Poivre Island, Seychelles, 1997
IGFA all-tackle length record	84 cm, Isla Coiba, Panama, 2011
Cabo Pulmo National Park	Sport fishing not allowed

Don't confuse it with

The jack crevalle (toro, Caranx caninus) is deeper-bodied, with a dark blotch on the lower pectoral fin, yellowish tail and anal fins, and a breast that’s mostly scaleless. The bigeye has no pectoral spot, a fully scaled breast and a much larger eye. The almaco jack (Seriola rivoliana) has a dark band running from the eye toward the dorsal fin.

How to tell yellowtail, almaco jack and Cabo’s jacks apart ›

Questions

What is the fish tornado at Cabo Pulmo?

A school of thousands of bigeye trevally swirling together to mate and reproduce. It’s seen by divers inside Cabo Pulmo National Park.

How do you tell a bigeye trevally from a jack crevalle?

Look at the pectoral fin and the eye. The jack crevalle has a dark spot on the lower pectoral fin; the bigeye doesn’t, and its eye is noticeably larger.