Popular Types of Bluefish: Tuna, Sardine, Salmon & More
Bluefish Varieties: A Culinary and Biological Overview
Bluefish are rich in fats, meats with intense color, and very tasty. They are important as heart-healthy food, but can sometimes cause indigestion. This group includes:
Tuna
Tuna, commonly known as wild bluefin tuna, belongs to the family Scombridae, order Perciformes. There are several areas where you can find tuna species. Bluefin tuna are distributed throughout the Atlantic, and schools of tuna are located in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, where it is known as bluefin tuna.
Sardine
Sardines are distributed in the Atlantic off the coast of Senegal to Norway, in the Mediterranean Sea, the Bay of Biscay, the English Channel, and the North Sea. It is a very common species along the entire Spanish coast.
Salmon
Salmon is a fish that spends most of its adult life at sea and returns to freshwater streams to spawn. Therefore, they are classified as diadromous fish, although most of the salmon consumed in our country comes from aquaculture.
Swordfish
Swordfish inhabit all oceans, although they prefer the warm waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. During the day, they are at depths of between 200 and 800 meters, but they come to the surface at night.
Mackerel
Mackerel is very abundant in the waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean, from the British Isles to the shores of North Africa, as well as in the western Atlantic, particularly off the coast of the United States and Canada.
Eel (Anguilla)
The eel is present naturally in Western Europe and North Africa. It spends most of its life cycle in freshwater but reproduces at sea. However, like all such fish, the eel has been affected by dam construction.
Trout
In our country, most of the trout that is consumed comes from farms and, to a lesser extent, recreational fishing in trout streams. Sea trout are caught in the waters of Biscay and in the rivers where they spawn.
Herring
Herring are blue and native to the warm, shallow waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea. They form large schools. Adult herring live at sea where, in the evening, they ascend to the surface to feed on plankton.
Anchovy (Boqueron)
The anchovy is an abundant species in the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic, as well as in the Mediterranean and Black seas, and lives more than 100 meters deep. Anchovies, along with sardines and horse mackerel, are the three most consumed bluefish in our country.
Mullet
The mullet, as well as mud rock, inhabits the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. There is also a kind known as real mullet, but it has nothing to do with the mullet and belongs to a different family.
Dogfish
Like the shark, it’s actually a shark but with oval eyes and triangular and flat teeth. The dogfish is a highly prized prey, making it difficult to fish. Currently, longline fishing is used, and they are also caught by trawling. Very popular in Andalusia, it is cooked in marinade.
Lamprey
The appearance is similar to the eel. However, there are seven holes under their eyes that the eel does not possess. In general, it prefers large rivers, with water not too swift, and is placed in the lower and middle sections.
- Yellowtail: Also known as scribe, is a widely distributed blue fish in the North Atlantic from Senegal to Iceland, and throughout the Mediterranean, relatively low price.
Palometa (Pomfret)
The halibut, or pomfret, inhabits the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, in the southern Pacific coast and in the Mediterranean Sea. It lives at depths of between 100 and 400 meters, but can drop to 900. It only comes close to the coast to breed, and that is when it is easier to fish for them.
Fish Cuts and Preparations
Tranche: The vertical section including meat, skin, and spine. To open cylindrical fish. For flat fish, half is obtained.
Slice: Like the Tranche fish but closed.
Supreme: Cut boneless ration with or without skin. In principle, you can get it from any of the fish, once the spines are removed.
Medallion: Cut a circular, thick skinless and boneless. It usually takes the backs of fish.
Steak: It is usually obtained from the flat fish, has no thorns but can go with or without skin. Equivalent to the supreme but flat fish.
Paupiette: Fish fillets, fish generally flat, which is wound on itself may or may not fill.
Loins: Court obtained from the top of the belly of the fish.