Atlantic bumper facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Atlantic bumper |
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| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Carangiformes |
| Family: | Carangidae |
| Genus: | Chloroscombrus |
| Species: |
C. chrysurus
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| Binomial name | |
| Chloroscombrus chrysurus (Linnaeus, 1766)
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| Synonyms | |
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The Atlantic bumper (Chloroscombrus chrysurus) is a type of game fish. It belongs to the Carangidae family, which includes jacks and pompanos. The famous scientist Carl Linnaeus first described this fish in 1766. He is known as the "father of modern taxonomy". Atlantic bumpers like to eat smaller fish, cephalopods (like squid), and tiny ocean creatures called zooplankton.
What Does the Atlantic Bumper Look Like?
The Atlantic bumper has a unique shape. Its bottom side is much more curved than its top side. You can also spot it by its lateral line, which is a special line of sensors on its side. This line arches up near the fish's head.
Most Atlantic bumpers are silver or golden in color. Their anal fin and caudal fin (tail fin) are often golden yellow. The anal fin has 3 stiff spines and 25-28 soft rays. The tail fin has 9 spines and 25-28 rays. There is a clear black, saddle-shaped spot on the narrow part of its body near the tail. This part is called the caudal peduncle. Another similar black patch is found near the edge of its gill cover.
Most Atlantic bumpers are about 25 centimeters (10 inches) long. But the biggest one ever recorded was much larger, reaching about 65 centimeters (26 inches)!
Where Do Atlantic Bumpers Live?
In the western Atlantic Ocean, you can find Atlantic bumpers from Massachusetts all the way down to southern Brazil. They live near Bermuda, in the Caribbean Sea, and throughout the Gulf of Mexico. Their range extends south to the coast of Uruguay.
In the eastern Atlantic, these fish are found along the coast from Mauritania to Angola. There was even one rare sighting in the Mediterranean Sea off Spain in 1997. There is a similar-looking fish called the Pacific bumper (Chloroscombrus orqueta). It lives in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Scientists are still studying if these two types of bumpers are actually the same species.
Atlantic bumpers prefer warm, subtropical waters. They usually live in depths up to 55 meters (180 feet). They often stay near soft, sandy bottoms on the continental shelf. However, they have also been seen swimming in large groups near the surface. While they mostly live in salt water, young Atlantic bumpers have been found in brackish water. This is a mix of fresh and salt water, often found in estuaries where rivers meet the sea.
