All fish / Carangidae

Pilot Fish

Naucrates ductor

Also known as pilotfish, pilot jack, banded pilot fish, ブリモドキ, 舟鰤, 领航鱼

A sleek jack with a silvery blue body crossed by five or six dark vertical bands and a deeply forked tail. In the wild it famously escorts sharks, rays, turtles and ships, which makes it a curiosity for public aquariums and very large private systems.

Care at a glance

Care level

Hard

Temperament

Semi

Adult size

35 cm

Temperature

20 to 28 °C

pH

8 to 8.4

Smallest tank

4000 litres

Keep as

Small group, ideally with large companion fish

Diet

Carnivore: small fish, krill, mysis, squid and chopped seafood

Swims

Middle of the tank

Lifespan

5 to 10 years

Water

Marine (saltwater)

Wild range

Circumglobal in tropical and warm temperate oceans

Breeding

It spawns in the open ocean, releasing pelagic eggs, and juveniles often shelter under jellyfish and drifting weed. Captive breeding has not been achieved in home aquariums.

Good to know

An open-water pelagic fish that can exceed 60 cm, so it needs huge, long tanks and is unsuited to typical home aquariums; it may eat small tankmates.