Mackerel

mackerel, any of a number of swift-moving, streamlined food and sport fishes found in temperate and tropical seas around the world, allied to tunas in the family Scombridae (order Perciformes). Mackerels are rounded and torpedo-shaped, with a slender, keeled tail base, a forked tail, and a row of small finlets behind the dorsal and anal fins. They are carnivorous fishes and feed on plankton, crustaceans, mollusks, fish eggs, and small fish. They congregate in schools and swim actively in the upper 25–30 fathoms of the water in the warmer months and then descend to as deep as 100 fathoms during the winter. They spawn during the spring and early summer along coastlines. Their eggs average 1 mm (0.04 inch) in diameter, are buoyant, and drift in the uppermost five fathoms of water. Mackerels are mostly caught by nets, rather than by angling.

The common mackerel (Scomber scombrus) of the Atlantic Ocean is an abundant and economically important species that is sometimes found in huge schools. It averages about 30 cm (12 inches) in length and is blue-green above and silver-white below, with a series of wavy, dark, vertical lines on the upper sides. It has two well-separated dorsal fins and two small keels on either side of the tail base; it lacks an air bladder. The common mackerel occurs along both coasts of the North Atlantic Ocean, from North Carolina to Labrador and from Spain to Norway.

Allied to this species is the chub mackerel (S. colias; once separated into Atlantic and Pacific species). They are more finely marked than the common mackerel; the chub mackerel that is found in the Pacific Ocean is bright green with vertical stripes. It has an air bladder but is otherwise similar to the common mackerel. The Pacific chub mackerel is caught in considerable numbers off the coast of California, while the Atlantic chub mackerel is widely distributed along both coasts of the North and South Atlantic.

The members of the genus Scomberomorus are related fishes that are found throughout the warm seas of the world. They are elongated with small scales, large mouths and teeth, and three keels on either side of the tail base. There are several species, among them: the barred Spanish mackerel (S. commerson), an Indo-Pacific fish said to weigh up to 45 kg (100 pounds); the king mackerel, or kingfish (S. cavalla), a western Atlantic fish about 170 cm long and weighing 36 kg or more; and the cero, or painted mackerel (S. regalis), an abundant, spotted Atlantic fish reportedly about 120 cm long. Scomberomorus species are a favourite game fish, and their flesh is of excellent quality. They are taken in considerable numbers in the South Atlantic and in the Gulf of Mexico.

Other fishes known as mackerel and belonging to the family Scombridae include the Indian mackerels (Rastrelliger), which are rather stout, commercially valuable Indo-Australian fishes up to 38 cm long, and the frigate mackerels (Auxis), which are small, elongated fishes found worldwide and distinguished by a corselet of enlarged scales around the shoulder region that extend along the lateral line.

The name mackerel is also used for certain species of tuna and bonito. Horse mackerel are mackerel-like carangids. Snake mackerels, or escolars, are fishes of the family Gempylidae.