Dispatch Method:

Beware of the sharp teeth of tailor when handling them. The eating qualities of these fish are greatly improved if they are killed immediately by iki jime or a firm knock to the head before placing them in an ice slurry after bleeding. Smaller tailor can also be killed humanely by cervical dislocation (breaking the neck).

Fish Description:

• Tailor are greenish to bluish above and silvery below.
  
• The common name for this fish comes from the Tailors ability to cut fishing nets with its sharp teeth.
  
• Juvenile tailor grow to 15 cm in 1 year, and both sexes mature at 2 to 3 years old at around 30 cm long.
  
• A 60 cm tailor is likely to be 5-6 years old, and the maximum age is around 9 years old.

Fish Distribution:

• This species is widely distributed in tropical and warm temperate waters of most oceans.
  
• In Australia it is known from southern Queensland, around the temperate south of the country and north to the central coast of Western Australia.
  
• Juvenile tailor frequent estuaries while schools of adults frequent inshore waters and can be found offshore to depths of up to 200 meters.

Fish Size Common Length:

30-60 cm, maximum size around 120 cm and 14 kg.