Banded Rudderfish lose the bands once they reach about a foot or more in length. The very very young fish (fry size and smaller will be yellow betten the poorly formed blackish bands.
Ray counts are the best way to distinguish these fish from small amberjack but I am not going to bore you with those such things. This sight is for fisherman not biologist.
The range of the banded rudderfish is the western Atlantic from Nova Scotia, south to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
The adults of this species prefer shallower water than other amberjacks. The banded rudderfish can be found over hard bottom and reefs, in deep inshore channels around structures, and in schools near buoys oil rigs, at all depths. Older fish also follow sharks and other large fish. Young banded rudderfish live offshore under jellyfish, commonly found inside the cannon ball jellyfish. Also around weed lines and floating debris.
One characteristic to help identify these fish is the white tips of the tail fin.
