Golden surface racers that can outpace fifty knots
Mahi-mahi—Hawaiian for “very strong”—are Coryphaena hippurus, surface hunters of warm seas worldwide, also called common dolphinfish or dorado. They are not related to marine mammals. Mature males grow a protruding forehead hump; both sexes flash gold, blue, and green that fade after death.
Linnaeus placed the genus in 1758 from Greek koryphe, “top” or “apex.” A single long dorsal fin runs nearly to the tail. Typical landings weigh 7 to 13 kilograms and stretch about a metre; fish over 18 kilograms are exceptional, and lives rarely pass four years though five is possible. Growth is among the fastest in fishes. Males and females mature within the first year, often by four to five months, and females may spawn two or three times yearly with 80,000 to 1,000,000 eggs each time. Young gather under Sargassum rafts and, off Malta and Sicily, under floating palm mats.
Diet spans flying fish, crabs, squid, jellyfish, and even juvenile tuna or other mahi-mahi; pursuit speeds reach about 50 knots. Charters watch debris lines and frigatebird behavior near reefs in roughly 120 feet of water. Commercial interest grew from tuna and swordfish bycatch into a targeted fishery. Harpoon boats called poti marara in French Polynesia and pagmamamataw practice in Batanes, Philippines, exploit the habit of staying near the surface. The constellation Dorado, named in 1598, commemorates the fish near the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Sustainability ratings diverge by gear: Monterey Bay Aquarium ranks U.S. Atlantic catches a best choice while urging buyers to avoid imported longline fish, rating troll and pole-and-line better alternatives. NRDC places mahi-mahi in a moderate-mercury tier with a suggested limit of six servings monthly. Flesh can carry ciguatera toxins accumulated from algae-associated dinoflagellates, and high histidine converts to histamine under poor storage, causing scombroid poisoning that cooking cannot erase.
Source: Mahi-mahi
