A long, flattened silver fish to 1.2 m (4 ft) with a row of dark blotches down the flank and, instead of a continuous dorsal fin, a row of short separate spines. Those spines are the thing to know about it.
They are venomous. Queenfish carry glandular tissue at the base of the dorsal and anal spines, and anglers handling them get stings that are painful out of proportion to the wound - one of very few jacks with a chemical defense at all.
Juveniles do something stranger: they eat scales. Young queenfish approach larger fish and strike the flank to knock scales loose, then swallow them, which is a real feeding strategy in several unrelated families and a rare one. Adults switch to whole fish taken in fast runs along drop-offs.
It is a strong game fish and a common catch on shore lines throughout the region, though the flesh is dark and not much valued locally - a fish more often released than eaten.
- long compressed silver body with a row of dark blotches along the flank
- row of short, separate dorsal spines rather than a continuous fin
- curved lower jaw and a large mouth for the size of the head
- length up to 1.2 m
