RACHYCENTRIDAE Rachycentron canadum, 16.0 cm SL (from Panay, Philippnes; photo by Seishi Kimura) Rachycentron canadum, 35.0 cm SL (from North Sulawesi, Indonesia; photo by Seishi Kimura) Rachycentron canadum, 56.0 cm SL (from Mie Pref., Japan; photo by Seishi Kimura) Rachycentron canadum (Linnaeus, 1766) Cobia D VII-IX, 26-33; A II-III, 22-28; P1 21-22; P2 I, 5. Body elongate, subcylindrical, body depth 5.6-8.0 in SL. Head broad and depressed; sucking disc absent. Dorsal-fin spines short, not connected by a membrane; longest dorsal-fin soft rays shorter than longest anal-fin soft rays. Caudal fin truncate in young, progressively more emarginate with growth. Pectoral fins pointed, becoming more falcate with growth. Scales small, embedded in thick skin; lateral line slightly wavy anteriorly. Color: body grayish to blackish dorsally, whitish to grayish ventrally, with a pale gray stripe from front of snout through eye to upper caudal peduncle and a faint dark stripe on lower side of trunk. Size: maximum length about 2 m. Distribution: circumglobal in tropical to warm temperate seas, except for the eastern Pacific. Remarks: semipelagic, but also found over shallow coral and rocky reefs, occasionally in estuaries. Occurs more in continental than insular waters.