Elagatis - Distribution and Habitat

Distribution and Habitat

The rainbow runner has a circumtropical distribution, inhabiting tropical and some subtropical waters worldwide. In the Western Atlantic, the species occurs from Massachusetts and Bermuda to north eastern Brazil, including the northern and southern Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas and the Greater and Lesser Antilles, extending east to at least the Azores. The species is widespread throughout the Pacific Ocean, but appears to be slightly less abundant in parts of the Indian Ocean, and rare or absent in the Persian Gulf. The species is an occasional visitor to the Mediterranean Sea, generally as a Lessepsian immigrant through the Suez Canal, but has not taken up permanent residence like other species. The species also inhabits the nearby Canary Islands, possibly entering the Mediterranean from the east also.

The species is primarily pelagic, inhabiting the upper 164 m of the water column, sometimes close to land over rock and coral reef systems, as well as far offshore. The species occasionally comes quite close to shore, known to inhabits lagoons for short periods, and juveniles have even been reported in a Taiwanese estuary system. Rainbow runner, like other carangids such as Yellowtail kingfish are easily attracted to special Fish Attracting Devices (FAD's), floating buoy type structures. The species has been shown to occupy a water zone outside of the FAD up to 12 m deep and 10 m wide, treating it as if it were a stationary object.