The cobia is normally solitary except for annual spawning aggregations, and it sometimes congregates at reefs, wrecks, harbours, buoys, and other structural oases.

[4] The cobia has been reported in various locations[5] of the eastern Mediterranean Sea since 1978, following either entry via the Suez Canal or escape from mariculture.

The predators of the cobia are not well documented, but the mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) is known to feed on juveniles and the shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) eats the adults.

Breeding activity takes place diurnally from April to September in large, offshore congregations, where the female is capable of spawning up to 30 times during the season.

[10] The cobia is sold commercially and commands a relatively high price for its firm texture and excellent flavor, but no designated wild fishery exists because it is a solitary species.

[citation needed] Thomas Keller's restaurant, The French Laundry, has offered cobia on its tasting menu.

[11][12] Its rapid growth rate and the high quality of the flesh could make it one of the most important marine fish for future aquaculture production.

[13] Currently, the cobia is being cultured in nurseries and offshore grow-out cages in parts of Asia, the United States, Mexico, and Panama.

[12] Following the success of cobia aquaculture in Taiwan, emerging technology is being used to demonstrate the viability of hatchery-reared cobia in collaboration with the private sector at exposed offshore sites in Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, and the largest open ocean farm in the world is run by a company called Open Blue off the coast of Panama.

[15] Greater depths, stronger currents, and distance from shore all act to reduce environmental impacts often associated with finfish aquaculture.

[12] The cobia are susceptible to multiple parasitic and bacterial infections such as Amyloodinium species, Photobacterium damselae subsp.