Blue Runner - Habitat

Habitat

The blue runner is primarily an inshore fish throughout most of its range, however it is known to live on reefs in water depths greater than 100 m. Throughout much of its Central American range, it is quite rare inshore, instead more commonly sighted on the outer reefs. The blue runner is primarily a semi-pelagic fish, inhabiting both inshore reefs and the outer shelf edges, sill reefs and upper slopes of the deep reef. Those individuals on shallower reefs often move between reef patches over large sand expanses. Juvenile fish are also known to inhabit the shallow waters of inshore lagoons, taking refuge around mangroves or in seagrass amongst coral reef patches. Fishermen have also taken the species in the Mississippi delta, indicating it can tolerate lower salinities in almost estuarine environments.

Blue runner are easily attracted to any large underwater or floating device, either natural or man made. Several studies have shown the species congregates around floating buoy-like fish aggregating devices (FADs), both in shallower waters, as well as in extremely deep (2500 m) waters, indicating the species may move around pelagically. In these situations, blue runner always form small aggregations at the water surface, while other larger species tend to congregate slightly deeper. A number of investigations around oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico have found blue runner congregate in large numbers around these in the warmer months, where they modify their feeding behavior to take advantage of the structure. Purpose built artificial reefs and marine aquaculture cage structures are also known to attract the species, with the former having the added benefit of dispersing wayward food scraps.