bluefish, voracious marine fish of the family Pomatomidae, resembling the pompano but more closely related to the sea basses (see bass, in zoology). Bluefish are found in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Atlantic. They average 30 in. (75 cm) in length and 10 to 12 lb (4.5–5.5 kg) in weight. Their sweet and pleasant-tasting flesh and their streamlined agility make them excellent food and game fish. Bluefish wander erratically in dense schools, feeding on menhaden and mullet and leaving a trail of carnage, for they destroy much more than they consume; they are even known to regurgitate in order to gorge themselves more. Bluefish are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Actinopterygii, order Perciformes, family Pomatomidae.
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