Tripletail

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

tripletail Lobotes surinamensis, a fish which does not really have three tails, but whose extended dorsal and anal fins give this impression. It bears a general resemblance to sea bass, is brassy-brown in colour with blotches, and may grow to a length of 1 m (39"). Its extensive range includes the W. Atlantic (Virginia to Argentina, including the Caribbean, whence surinamensis in its name), the E. Atlantic (the Strait of Gibraltar to southern Africa), the W. Mediterranean (rarely), and many of the tropical or warm seas of the Indo-Pacific, including parts of Australia.