Q: At a bait stop off Guatemala's Pacific coast, we found few scads or blue runners but loads of these. Clearly, they're some sort of jack, but what species, exactly? Does the genus have an Atlantic counterpart?

Ray Douglas
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
www.kingsailfish.com

A: Ray, that little oval fellow is indeed a jack. It's Chloroscombrus orqueta, the Pacific bumper. These small fish (12 inches is the record) live between Southern California and Peru, usually around the coast or the waters in mangrove forests. A good place to spot them is under drifting material such as algae or logs. As you noted, they often travel in schools where they feed on small invertebrates and try to avoid being eaten by larger jacks and billfishes. Despite their small size, bumpers are often caught in local commercial fisheries and are eaten fresh, salted or frozen. Pacific bumpers are closely related to the Atlantic bumper, C. chrysurus, which exhibits much the same life history and behavior.  — Milton Love