Dolphinfish or mahi-mahi, a fish of breathtaking colors

A dolphinfish with its beautiful colors © Guillaume Fourrier

A surface fish, the dolphinfish is a warm-water fish with breathtaking colors. The mahi-mahi has it all: it's excellent on the plate, and surface fishing is great fun.

Guillaume Fourrier Published on September 11, 2023

Scientific name

Coryphaena hippurus (Linné, 1758)

Morphology

The dolphinfish's body is strongly compressed laterally, heavy at the front and tapering to the tail. The mahi-mahi's forehead is very prominent, forming a frontal hump that surmounts the jaw, which is much more developed in males. Dentition is present on the jaws, tongue and palate. The dolphinfish has a long dorsal fin extending like a sail from head to tail. The dolphinfish is bright yellow-green on the back and yellow on the rest of the body.

Dory bream fishing grounds

It is not very common on our coasts, but can be found at the height of summer in the Mediterranean and more frequently in Corsica. The water surface must reach 20°C for this bream to acclimatize well. Overseas, it is sometimes abundant. They can be caught under any floating object known as a floating wreck or FAD. Beware, this can be a container as well as a small yoghurt pot! As soon as there's algae under the floating wreck, life starts to form underneath. In the French overseas departments and territories, it abounds on FADs (Fish Aggregating Devices).

Fishing techniques

The English call it mahi-mahi or dolphinfish. This dorado is fished all over the world, generally near the surface. Either with a surface lure like a popper, or by trolling with a piece of hard-fleshed fish that holds well on the hook, or with a livebait, the nec plus ultra.