Wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri)

Common names:   ono, peto, thazard-batard

Habitat/distribution: A deepwater, open-ocean fish. Distributed throughout the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, and most seas contiguous with those oceans. During warm months in the Gulf, wahoo may be encountered rather close to shore. Commonly encountered from the surface to much deeper in the water column. They are exceedingly fast fish.

Method of harvest: In the Gulf, wahoo are generally taken as tuna longline bycatch. They are sometimes taken by trolling or with handlines.

Season/availability: Possible to land all year, but in the winter they will only come in on tuna boats.

Size: Landed headed and gutted, at ten to 50 pounds on average. However, wahoo up to 200 pounds have been taken before. The wahoo is the largest mackerel in the world.

Cooking characteristics:   Like nothing one would expect from a mackerel. Indeed, people are sometimes skeptical that the wahoo even is a scombrid. The meat is very white, not fatty or oily. Cooked improperly, however, it can be a bit dry. Very good for any mackerel preparation (smoking, curing, salting, drying) as well as any preparation for shark, cobia, even amberjack.