Samsonfish
Seriola hippos
Illustration: Bloom by Day
A heavy silver kingfish-shaped predator with a bronze-green sheen over the back and no yellow anywhere. It patrols jetty pylons, bommies and current lines in small groups, and hits a bait hard enough that anglers name it for the strength.
how to recognise it
- silvery with a greyish-green, brownish to bronze sheen on the back
- sometimes a yellowish stripe along the side
- adults have a less convex head profile and are more uniformly coloured
- juveniles are very blunt-headed, greenish to yellow, with five broad bands on the body
don’t confuse with
- Yellowtail kingfish — the yellowtail kingfish has a YELLOW stripe from the snout through the eye along the midline, a yellowish tail, and a dark blue to greenish-blue back
- Amberjack — the amberjack is brownish to bluish-grey with a dusky band from the upper jaw through the eye to the first dorsal fin
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-15. Our wording, their facts. Max size 173 cm TL.
facts
- habitat
- reef
- size
- ~90 cm, to 173 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (173 cm TL); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records near here
- 2 at 1 of 6 spots
A count of occurrence records near these spots, not abundance. Records are where someone looked.
when it has been recorded
JFMAMJJASOND
A gap means no record in the sample, not absence.
the rule
QLD — Min: 50cm · Combined limit: 2 in total of amberjack and samsonfish
source
· verified 2026-10-10
NSW — no size limit · 5 in total
source
· verified 2026-10-01
no closed season recorded for this species — that is not the same as open; check the official page
Rules checked 2026-10-13 against qld.gov.au
Rules change. Check before you dive.
Occurrence data: Atlas of Living Australia (ala.org.au), CC-BY 4.0.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.