Bluefish can grow to a maximum of about three and one-half feet. The heaviest American bluefish weighed twenty-seven pounds, caught off Nantucket in 1903. They run somewhat larger off the African coast, where one forty-five pound bluefish has been recorded. They are generally oceanic in nature, being found either inshore or offshore. They are creatures of warm water, preferring water temperatures not less than sixty degrees Fahrenheit.
Blues appear on the eastern United States coast as seasonal migrants.
They feed on a variety of polycheates, crustaceans and fish prey. Later they are seen harrying other fish near the surface. Blues come inshore and tend to turn up in bays or estuaries in the warm months of July and August. Bluefish spawn from late spring to the middle of August. The larvae are similar to mackerel larvae in that they have large blue eyes and large teeth.