The short mackerel or shortbodied mackerel (''Rastrelliger brachysoma'') is a species of
mackerel
Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment.
...
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 ...
.
Its habitat is the shallow waters of
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
and
Melanesia
Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea.
The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Va ...
, feeding mainly on small
zooplankton
Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...
. It is of major importance to the fisheries industry.
Description
The short mackerel can attain a maximum length of 34.5 cm, but lengths of around 20 cm are more common. It reaches maturity at a length of about 17 cm. The species has the typical appearance of a medium-sized mackerel and is of silver colour. The snout is somewhat pointed.
Ecology
The short mackerel is
pelagic
The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or wa ...
but prefers to feed in
estuarine
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
habitats, at surface temperatures of . It is a plankton feeder. The spawning season can extend from March to September, with individual populations spawning in batches.
[
]
Fisheries
The species is of major commercial importance, and is caught by various methods ranging from gillnetting to dynamite fishing.
As food
Thailand
''Pla thu'' ( th, ปลาทู; ), known as the "fish of the nation" due to its ubiquity,[ is a very important fish in Thai cuisine, where it is sold in the market with the head bent downwards, which gives it a characteristic shape. ''Pla thu'' is typically fried and eaten with '' nam phrik kapi'', boiled and raw vegetables and leafy greens, as well as pieces of '']cha-om
''Senegalia pennata'' ( en, climbing wattle, vi, rau thối, th, ชะอม ''cha-om'', my, ဆူးပုပ်, ; km, ស្អំ; Meiteilon : ''khang'', Thadou-Kuki: khang-khu, Paite Language: Khangkhuh, Mizo: khanghu, Hmar: ''khang ...
'' omelette, but it is essential in many other preparations. The name ''pla thu'' is sometimes also applied to the Indian mackerel
The Indian mackerel (''Rastrelliger kanagurta'') is a species of mackerel in the scombrid family (family Scombridae) of order Perciformes. It is commonly found in the Indian and West
Pacific oceans, and their surrounding seas. It is an impor ...
''(Rastrelliger kanagurta)'', which is prepared in the same way.
In the traditional way of processing the ''pla thu'' for preservation, the gills are removed and the head of the fish is bent downwards forcefully towards the belly by breaking its backbone. This is done to allow three fishes to fit into a small open-work bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...
basket of a predetermined size. Once in the baskets, the fish are boiled for a few minutes in large basins of sea-water with salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
added at of salt for every of water. In Thai cuisine, the thus processed ''pla thu'' is most often eaten fried in combination with ''nam phrik kapi'', a spicy dip made with shrimp paste, dried prawns, lime juice, fish sauce, and the small pea eggplant
''Solanum torvum'', the turkey berry, devil's fig, pea eggplant, platebrush or susumber, is a bushy, erect and spiny perennial plant used horticulturally as a rootstock for eggplant. Grafted plants are very vigorous and tolerate diseases affe ...
, with rice and steamed, raw, or fried vegetables.
The ''pla thu'' prepared in this way will keep for a very long time in the refrigerator. In former times, it kept for about two weeks without refrigeration as long as it was boiled for a few minutes every two days. In this manner, this sea fish could reach many places in interior Thailand, like the Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city in ...
area in the far north and even remote places in Isan
Northeast Thailand or Isan (Isan/ th, อีสาน, ; lo, ອີສານ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pali ''īsānna'' or Sanskrit ईशान्य ''īśānya'' "northeast") consists of 20 provin ...
.
Fresh ''pla thu'' is commonly used to make soup
Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ing ...
s such as ''tom yam
Tom yum or tom yam (, ; th, ต้มยำ, ) is a type of hot and sour Thai soup, usually cooked with shrimp (prawn).
The words "tom yam" are derived from two Thai words. ''Tom'' refers to the boiling process, while ''yam'' means 'mixed'. ...
pla thu''. This fish is so popular in Thai culture that the Samut Songkhram F.C. has a ''pla thu'' in its emblem.
In 1870, Anna Leonowens
Anna Harriette Leonowens (born Ann Hariett Emma Edwards; 5 November 1831 – 19 January 1915) was an Anglo-Indian or Indian-born British travel writer, educator, and social activist.
She became well known with the publication of her memoirs, be ...
described the importance of this fish for Thailand in her book ''The English Governess at the Siamese Court'': "The stream is rich in fish of excellent quality and flavour, such as is found in most of the great rivers of Asia; and is especially noted for its ''plathu'', a kind of sardine, so abundant and cheap that it forms a common seasoning to the labourer's bowl of rice. The Siamese are experts in modes of drying and salting fish of all kinds, and large quantities are exported annually to Java, Sumatra, Malacca, and China".
The entrails of this mackerel are one of the main ingredients of ''tai pla
''Kaeng tai pla'' ( th, แกงไตปลา, ) is a curry of southern Thai cuisine. Its name is derived from ''tai pla'', a salty sauce made from fermented fish offal, entrails, which gives the curry a strong smell and flavor.
This curry is ...
'' sauce, used in the preparation of the well-known ''kaeng tai pla
''Kaeng tai pla'' ( th, แกงไตปลา, ) is a curry of southern Thai cuisine. Its name is derived from ''tai pla'', a salty sauce made from fermented fish entrails, which gives the curry a strong smell and flavor.
This curry is usuall ...
'' curry.
Thailand's National Fisheries Association warned in 2019 that short-bodied mackerel may go extinct in the Gulf of Thailand
The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. It is around in l ...
unless action is taken. The Thai Department of Fisheries closes the upper part of the Gulf of Thailand annually during the short mackerel breeding season. The fish migrate from the south of the gulf to the north to find spawning grounds. During this period, fishing boats are not allowed in specific areas. Local fishers flout this ban by catching adult female fish during their breeding season, reducing the number of newly spawned fish. In 2011, the ''pla thu'' catch in Thai waters was 147,853 tonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
s. By 2018, the figure had dropped to 20,461 tonnes. Formerly rich seas off Mae Klong ( Samut Songkhram Province) are now home to few fish. Imports from Sri Lanka and Indonesia have become increasingly common, although Thais commonly believe that imported mackerel is inferior in flavour.
In other countries
This type of mackerel is also very important in the cuisine of other regions of Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
, such as Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
, the Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
(where it is the most commercially important variety of mackerel), and Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
.
References
External links
''Rastrelliger brachysoma'' (Bleeker, 1851)
FAO, Species Fact Sheet. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
Problems with the Development of Fisheries in Thailand
A video of pla thu being fried
Chu chi pla thu sod - Picture
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2128770
Scombridae
Commercial fish
Thai cuisine
Fish described in 1851
Fish processing
Rastrelliger