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Beche De Mer
(Sea Cucumber)

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Also known as Jack Mackerel, Horse Mackerel and Scad 

Cowanyoung are dark green to green-blue on their back and silvery on their lower sides and belly.  Their fins are translucent or grey.  Cowanyoung have large eyes.   Their main lateral line bears large, keeled scutes along its entire length and curves gently downwards behind the pectoral fin.  The secondary lateral line extends posteriorly to well past the beginning of the second dorsal fin.

Cowanyoung inhabit southern Australian waters.  They normally live in continental shelf waters, but individual fish have been caught in depths up to 460 metres.  They form pelagic schools for most of the year but may move close to the sea bed during winter.

Spawning occurs over a wide area.  Eggs and sperm are released amongst schooling fish, possibly deep in the water column near the edge of the continental shelf.   Individual fish may spawn on a number of occasions during the season, making estimation of egg numbers difficult.  Cowanyoung eggs are distributed between the surface and the thermocline and larvae are carried inshore by currents.  Juvenile Cowanyoung inhabit coastal and estuarine waters, although they may sometimes be found offshore.

Cowanyoung grow to a size of 19-23 cm fork length by the age of 2 years and to a maximum recorded size of 47cm fork length and an age of 16 years.

They appear to feed mostly during the day.  Adults diet mainly consists of krill and other planktonic crustaceans and tend to feed on light fish and lantern fish at the edge of the continental shelf.  They are eaten by larger predatory fish such as barracouta, southern Bluefin tuna and albacore.

Good Marlin bait.

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