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(Click for large pic. 26Kb)
This is a small Bonito of inshore coastal waters and estuaries, reaching a weight of about 2 kg (5 lb.). During the midwinter months extensive shoals move inshore feeding on surface accumulations of Sprats, Anchovies and Hardy heads.
It is a rather dark-fleshed fish and is usually taken for Snapper bait by game fishermen as bait for Marlin and Shark. However. it is not to be scorned as a table fish, especially if served steamed rather than fried. The fish is blue green above and silvery below. There is a series of dusky grey broken lines and blotches above the lateral line, and three greyish unbroken lines below it; this pattern serves to distinguish it from its near relative, the Australian Bonito, in which 10 or 11 narrow greyish stripes run along the sides.
In common with many of the small Tunas, this little Bonito is a dry fleshed fish
with only minor table appeal. This is unfortunate; for it is better eating than popular opinion generally admits. The steamed fillets should be served with a white sauce only moderately flavoured with spices, parsley and a little garlic, preferably on a bed of rice. In general. most of the drier fleshed fish are better served with a sauce of some kind, usually seasoned.
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