The double-lined mackerel (''Grammatorcynus bilineatus''), is a species of

Spanish mackerel Scomberomorini is a tribe of ray-finned saltwater bony fishes that is commonly known as the Spanish mackerels, seerfishes or seer fish. This fish closely resembles the King Mackerel. This tribe is a subset of the mackerel family (Scombridae) – ...

(

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

Scomberomorini Scomberomorini is a tribe of ray-finned saltwater bony fishes that is commonly known as the Spanish mackerels, seerfishes or seer fish. This fish closely resembles the King Mackerel. This tribe is a subset of the mackerel family (Scombridae) – ...

) in the family

Scombridae The mackerel, tuna, and bonito family, Scombridae, includes many of the most important and familiar food fishes. The family consists of 51 species in 15 genera and two subfamilies. All species are in the subfamily Scombrinae, except the butterfly ...

. This species is sometimes also called the scad mackerel.

Distribution and habitat

This species is present in the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific, from the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

to the

Andaman Sea The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated from ...

, also from the northern coast of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

to the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

, as far as

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

Habitat

These subtropical reef-associated and

oceanodromous Fish migration is animal migration, mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few ...

fishes usually inhabit open water but they are mostly found in shallow waters at depths of 15 to 50 m.

Description

''Grammatorcynus bilineatus'' can reach a maximum length of about , with a common length of about and maximum weight of about . The double-lined mackerel has an elongated and slightly compressed body covered with small flakes with a relatively small mouth and large eyes. The body color is dark blue on the back, silvery on the sides, silvery white on the belly. The dorsal fins are two, separated by a short space. These fishes have eleven- thirteen dorsal spines, ten- fourteen dorsal soft rays and ten-fourteen anal soft rays. The pectoral fins are rather short. There are two lateral lines, one on the dorsal profile, and the other at the height of the pectoral fins.Collete, B.B. 1986. - Scombridae. - In P.J.P. White head, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen, and E. Tortonese (eds.), Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranea. Vol II, pp. 981-997. UNESCO, Paris Before 1983, this species was sometimes confused with ''

Grammatorcynus bicarinatus The shark mackerel (''Grammatorcynus bicarinatus'') is a species of Spanish mackerel (tribe Scomberomorini) in the scombrid family (Scombridae). Their maximum reported length is , and the maximum reported weight is . This species is sometimes al ...

'', the

shark mackerel The shark mackerel (''Grammatorcynus bicarinatus'') is a species of Spanish mackerel (tribe Scomberomorini) in the scombrid family (Scombridae). Their maximum reported length is , and the maximum reported weight is . This species is sometimes al ...

Biology

''Grammatorcynus bilineatus'' mainly feed on crustaceans and fishes, especially

Clupeiformes Clupeiformes is the order of Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish that includes the herring family, Clupeidae, and the anchovy family, Engraulidae. The group includes many of the most important Forage fish, forage and food fish. Clupeiformes are phy ...

(''

Sardinella ''Sardinella'' is a genus of fish in the family Clupeidae found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean. They are abundant in warmer waters of the tropical and subtropical oceans. Adults are generally coastal, schooling, marine fish but juveni ...

'' and ''

Thryssa ''Thryssa'' is a genus of anchovies in the family Engraulidae. It contains the following species: Species * ''Thryssa adelae'' ( Rutter, 1897) (Swatow thryssa) * ''Thryssa aestuaria'' ( J. D. Ogilby, 1910) (Estuarine thryssa) * ''Thryssa baelam ...

'' species), but also other fishes such as triggerfishes ('' Balistes'') and barracudas ('' Sphyraena''). It usually forms large schools.

Fisheries

The double-lined mackerel is a commercial fish, usually marketed canned and frozen.

Bibliography

* Fenner, Robert M.: ''The Conscientious Marine Aquarist''. Neptune City, USA: T.F.H. Publications, 2001. * Helfman, G., B. Collette y D. Facey: ''The diversity of fishes''. Blackwell Science, Malden, Massachusetts, USA, 1997 * Hoese, D.F. 1986: . A M.M. Smith y P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlín. * Maugé, L.A. 1986. A J. Daget, J.-P. Gosse y D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde (eds.) Check-list of the freshwater fishes of África. Vol. 2. * Moyle, P. y J. Cech.: ''Fishes: An Introduction to Ichthyology'', 4th. ed, Upper Saddle River, USA - Prentice-Hall. 2000. * Nelson, J.: ''Fishes of the World'', 3rd ed.USA: John Wiley and Sons. 1994. * Wheeler, A.: ''The World Encyclopedia of Fishes'', 2nd. Ed. London: Macdonald. 1985.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q232970 Scombridae Fish described in 1836 Grammatorcynus