Cobia, Rachycentron canadum, is an important species for aquaculture worldwide. Production technology from egg to market was established in the early 1990s and continues to be perfected to this day. This species exhibits extraordinary scope for growth and can reach between 4 and 8 kg in 1 year, with females growing almost twice as fast and large as males. Despite continuous progress in maturation, spawning, larval rearing, fingerling production, nutrition, health management, genetics, and growout technology, overall cobia aquaculture production worldwide has been slow in the last decade. One of the biggest challenges remains the development of practical commercial feeds that are ecologically and economically efficient for this species.Feed conversion ratios are still very high, ranging from 2.0 to 3.0:1. In addition to nutritional challenges, diseases such as Photobacterium, Amyloodinium ocellatus, and Brooklynella hostilis continue to impact cobia aquaculture production worldwide. Genetics and breeding programs for cobia are still at their infancy. We report on current status of cobia

Pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) have been used to demonstrate habitat utilization and large-scale migrations of aquatic species and are a critical tool to manage highly migratory fish populations. Use of PSATs has increased in recent years; however, few studies have investigated the physiological and behavioral effects of carrying a PSAT. To address this gap, young-adult mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus; 25–35 cm fork length) were tagged with miniature PSATs and assessed in a two-part experiment utilizing swim tunnel respirometry and behavioral analysis of free-swimming individuals. Swim tunnel respirometry revealed significant reductions in the critical and optimal swimming speeds of tagged fish (10.2% and 20.9%, respectively), as well as significant reductions in maximum metabolic rate and aerobic scope (16.1% and 21.4%, respectively). In contrast, mean and maximum velocity, acceleration, total distance traveled, survival, and feeding success of free-swimming tagged fish showed no impacts of tagging compared with untagged conspecifics held in the same tank. The results of this study highlight the importance of considering multiple methodologies to assess the impacts of tagging fish and provide insight into the data collected by PSATs deployed on wild fish.

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The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) disaster released 3.19 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) in 2010, overlapping the habitat of pelagic fish populations. Using mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus)a highly migratory marine teleost present in the GOM during the spillas a model species, laboratory experiments demonstrate injuries to physiology and behavior following oil exposure. However, more than a decade postspill, impacts on wild populations remain unknown. To address this gap, we exposed wild mahi-mahi to crude oil or control conditions onboard a research vessel, collected fin clip samples, and tagged them with electronic tags prior to release into the GOM. We demonstrate profound effects on survival and reproduction in the wild. In addition to significant changes in gene expression profiles and predation mortality, we documented altered acceleration and habitat use in the first 8 days oil-exposed individuals were at liberty as well as a cessation of apparent spawning activity for at least 37 days. These data reveal that even a brief and low-dose exposure to crude oil impairs fitness in wild mahi-mahi. These findings offer new perspectives on the lasting impacts of the DWH blowout and provide insight about the impacts of future deep-sea oil spills.