Peak Season: Summer & Fall

Atlantic tripletails are found coastally in most, but not all, tropical and subtropical seas. They are semimigratorial and pelagic. Normally solitary, they have been known to form schools. They can be found in bays, sounds, and estuaries during the summer. Juveniles are usually found swimming under patches of Sargassum algae. In the Gulf of Mexico, adults are usually found in open water, but can also be found in passes, inlets, and bays near river mouths. Large adults are sometimes found near the surface over deep, open water, although always associated with floating objects. Young fishes are also often found in or near shipwrecks, beams or supports, jetties, flotsam and sea buoys. Fry are usually found in waters that exceed 84 °F (29 °C), greater than 3.3‰ salinity, and more than 230 feet (70 m) deep.

Tripletails are well known for their unusual behavior of floating just beneath the surface with one side exposed, mimicking a leaf or floating debris. This is thought to be a feeding strategy because of the locality of their prey items and the floating structures associated with this behavior. The behavior has resulted in a rapidly increasing incidence of recreational fishermen sight-fishing for the floating tripletails, resulting in severe bag and length restrictions in Florida and Georgia to ensure future populations.