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Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from 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 ...
. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. Mackerel species typically have deeply forked tails and vertical ' tiger-like' stripes on their backs with an
iridescent Iridescence (also known as goniochromism) is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear to gradually change color as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Examples of iridescence include soap bubbles, feathers, butterfl ...
green-blue quality. Many are restricted in their distribution ranges and live in separate populations or
fish stock Fish stock or stock fish may also refer to: *Fish stocks are subpopulations of a particular species of fish. * Fish stock (food), liquid made by boiling fish bones with vegetables, used as a base for fish soups and sauces * Fish stocking, the practi ...
s based on geography. Some stocks
migrate Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...
in large schools along the coast to suitable spawning grounds, where they spawn in fairly shallow waters. After spawning they return the way they came in smaller schools to suitable feeding grounds, often near an area of upwelling. From there they may move offshore into deeper waters and spend the winter in relative inactivity. Other stocks migrate across oceans. Smaller mackerel are forage fish for larger predators, including larger mackerel and Atlantic cod. Flocks of seabirds, whales, dolphins, sharks, and schools of larger fish such as tuna and marlin follow mackerel schools and attack them in sophisticated and cooperative ways. Mackerel flesh is high in omega-3 oils and is intensively harvested by humans. In 2009, over 5 million tons were landed by commercial fishermen. Sport fishermen value the fighting abilities of the king mackerel. __TOC__


Species

Over 30 different species, principally belonging to the family Scombridae, are commonly referred to as mackerel. The term "mackerel" is derived from Old French and may have originally meant either "marked, spotted" or "pimp, procurer". The latter connection is not altogether clear, but mackerel spawn enthusiastically in shoals near the coast, and medieval ideas on animal procreation were creative.


Scombroid mackerels

About 21 species 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 ...
are commonly called mackerel. The type species for the scombroid mackerel is the Atlantic mackerel, ''Scomber scombrus''. Until recently,
Atlantic chub mackerel Atlantic chub mackerel (''Scomber colias''), also known as Tinker mackerel, is a pelagic schooling species of mackerel found in the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea. It was originally thought to be a subspecies of the chu ...
and Indo-Pacific chub mackerel were thought to be subspecies of the same species. In 1999, Collette established, on molecular and morphological considerations, that these are separate species. Mackerel are smaller with shorter lifecycles than their close relatives, the tuna, which are also members of the same family.


Scombrini, the true mackerels

The true mackerels belong to the tribe Scombrini. The tribe consists of seven species, each belonging to one of two
genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
: '' Scomber'' or ''
Rastrelliger ''Rastrelliger'' is a mackerel genus in the family Scombridae. The three species of ''Rastrelliger'' together with the four species of ''Scomber'' comprise the tribe Scombrini Scombrini, commonly called the true mackerels, is a tribe of ray- ...
''.


Scomberomorini, the Spanish mackerels

The Spanish mackerels belong to the tribe Scomberomorini, which is the "cousin tribe" of the true mackerels. This tribe consists of 21 species in all—18 of those are classified into the genus '' Scomberomorus'', two into '' Grammatorcynus'', and a single species into the monotypic genus '' Acanthocybium''.


Other mackerel

In addition, a number of species with mackerel-like characteristics in the families Carangidae,
Hexagrammidae Hexagrammidae, the greenlings, is a family of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the suborder Cottoidei in the order Scorpaeniformes. These fishes are found in the North Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy Hexagrammidae was first proposed as a family i ...
and
Gempylidae The Gempylidae are a family of perciform fishes commonly known as snake mackerels or escolars. The family includes about 25 species. They are elongated fishes with a similar appearance to barracudas, having a long dorsal fin, usually with one or ...
are commonly referred to as mackerel. Some confusion had occurred between the Pacific jack mackerel (''Trachurus symmetricus'') and the heavily harvested Chilean jack mackerel (''T. murphyi''). These have been thought at times to be the same species, but are now recognised as separate species. The term "mackerel" is also used as a modifier in the common names of other fish, sometimes indicating the fish has vertical stripes similar to a scombroid mackerel: *
Mackerel icefish The mackerel icefish (''Champsocephalus gunnari'') is a benthopelagic species of fish found in the Southern Ocean and the southernmost waters of the Atlantic Ocean. They are mainly to be found near Heard and McDonald Islands, Îles Kerguelen and ...
—''Champsocephalus gunnari'' *
Mackerel pike The Pacific saury (''Cololabis saira'') is a member of the family Scomberesocidae. Saury is a seafood in several East Asian cuisines and is also known by the name mackerel pike. Biology Saury is a fish with a small mouth, an elongated body, ...
—''Cololabis saira'' *
Mackerel scad The mackerel scad (''Decapterus macarellus''), or speedo, is a species of fish of the family, Carangidae. While mackerel scad can be considered gamefish, they are usually used as bait. They are popular for consumption in Hawai'i, the Philippines ...
—''Decapterus macarellus'' * Mackerel shark—several species * Shortfin mako shark—''Isurus oxyrinchus'' * Mackerel tuna—''Euthynnus affinis'' * Mackerel tail goldfish—''Carassius auratus'' By extension, the term is applied also to other species such as the mackerel tabby cat, and to inanimate objects such as the
altocumulus mackerel sky A mackerel sky is a common term for clouds made up of rows of cirrocumulus or altocumulus clouds displaying an undulating, rippling pattern similar in appearance to fish scales; this is caused by high altitude atmospheric waves. Cirrocumulus app ...
cloud formation.


Characteristics

Most mackerel belong to the family Scombridae, which also includes tuna and
bonito Bonitos are a tribe of medium-sized, ray-finned predatory fish in the family Scombridae – a family it shares with the mackerel, tuna, and Spanish mackerel tribes, and also the butterfly kingfish. Also called the tribe Sardini, it consists of ...
. Generally, mackerel are much smaller and slimmer than tuna, though in other respects, they share many common characteristics. Their scales, if present at all, are extremely small. Like tuna and bonito, mackerel are voracious feeders, and are swift and manoeuvrable swimmers, able to streamline themselves by retracting their fins into grooves on their bodies. Like other scombroids, their bodies are cylindrical with numerous finlets on the dorsal and ventral sides behind the dorsal and
anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...
s, but unlike the deep-bodied tuna, they are slim. The type species for scombroid mackerels is the Atlantic mackerel, ''Scomber scombrus''. These fish are iridescent blue-green above with a silvery underbelly and near-vertical wavy black stripes running along their upper bodies. The prominent stripes on the back of mackerels seemingly are there to provide camouflage against broken backgrounds. That is not the case, though, because mackerel live in midwater pelagic environments which have no background. However, fish have an
optokinetic reflex The optokinetic response is a combination of a slow-phase and fast-phase eye movements. It is seen when an individual tracks (pursuit movement) a moving object with their eyes, which then moves out of the field of vision, a point at which their ...
in their
visual systems The visual system comprises the sensory organ (the eye) and parts of the central nervous system (the retina containing photoreceptor cells, the optic nerve, the optic tract and the visual cortex) which gives organisms the sense of sight (th ...
that can be sensitive to moving stripes. For fish to school efficiently, they need feedback mechanisms that help them align themselves with adjacent fish, and match their speed. The stripes on neighbouring fish provide "schooling marks", which signal changes in relative position. A layer of thin, reflecting platelets is seen on some of the mackerel stripes. In 1998, E J Denton and D M Rowe argued that these platelets transmit additional information to other fish about how a given fish moves. As the orientation of the fish changes relative to another fish, the amount of light reflected to the second fish by this layer also changes. This sensitivity to orientation gives the mackerel "considerable advantages in being able to react quickly while schooling and feeding." Mackerel range in size from small forage fish to larger game fish. Coastal mackerel tend to be small. The king mackerel is an example of a larger mackerel. Most fish are cold-blooded, but exceptions exist. Certain species of fish maintain elevated body temperatures. Endothermic
bony fish Osteichthyes (), popularly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverse superclass of fish that have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Chondrichthyes, which have skeletons primarily composed of cartilag ...
es are all in the suborder
Scombroidei Scombroidei is a suborder of the Perciformes, the largest order of fish. The suborder includes the barracuda, tuna, and mackerel, as well as the billfish The term billfish refers to a group of saltwater predatory fish characterised by pro ...
and include the
butterfly mackerel The butterfly kingfish (''Gasterochisma melampus'') is an ocean-dwelling ray-finned bony fish in the mackerel family, Scombridae – a family which it shares with the tunas, mackerels, Spanish mackerels, and bonitos. Unlike the 50 species from ...
, a species of primitive mackerel. Mackerel are strong swimmers. Known in the latin family as "punctualis piscis" which translates to "punctual fish." This is due to its punctuality of migration during mating season as it moves from warm to cold waters. Atlantic mackerel can swim at a sustained speed of 0.98 m/sec with a burst speed of 5.5 m/sec, while chub mackerel can swim at a sustained speed of 0.92 m/sec with a burst speed of 2.25 m/sec.


Distribution

Most mackerel species have restricted distribution ranges. * Atlantic Spanish mackerel ''(Scomberomorus maculatus)'' occupy the waters off the east coast of North America from the Cape Cod area south to the Yucatan Peninsula. Its population is considered to include two
fish stock Fish stock or stock fish may also refer to: *Fish stocks are subpopulations of a particular species of fish. * Fish stock (food), liquid made by boiling fish bones with vegetables, used as a base for fish soups and sauces * Fish stocking, the practi ...
s, defined by geography. As summer approaches, one stock moves in large schools north from Florida up the coast to spawn in shallow waters off the New England coast. It then returns to winter in deeper waters off Florida. The other stock migrates in large schools along the coast from Mexico to spawn in shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico off Texas. It then returns to winter in deeper waters off the Mexican coast. These stocks are managed separately, even though genetically they are identical. * The Atlantic mackerel ''(Scomber scombrus)'' is a coastal species found only in the north Atlantic. The stock on the west side of the Atlantic is largely independent of the stock on the east side. The stock on the east Atlantic currently operates as three separate stocks, the southern, western and North Sea stocks, each with their own migration patterns. Some mixing of the east Atlantic stocks takes place in feeding grounds towards the north, but there is almost no mixing between the east and west Atlantic stocks. * Another common coastal species, the chub mackerel ''(Scomber japonicus)'', is absent from the Atlantic Ocean but is widespread across both hemispheres in the Pacific, where its migration patterns are somewhat similar to those of Atlantic mackerel. In the northern hemisphere, chub mackerel migrate northwards in the summer to feeding grounds, and southwards in the winter when they spawn in relatively shallow waters. In the southern hemisphere the migrations are reversed. After spawning, some stocks migrate down the continental slope to deeper water and spend the rest of the winter in relative inactivity. * The Chilean jack mackerel (''Trachurus murphyi''), the most intensively harvested mackerel-like species, is found in the south Pacific from West Australia to the coasts of Chile and Peru. A
cousin species Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, " ...
, the Pacific jack mackerel (''Trachurus symmetricus''), is found in the north Pacific. The Chilean jack mackerel occurs along the coasts in upwelling areas, but also migrates across the open ocean. Its
abundance Abundance may refer to: In science and technology * Abundance (economics), the opposite of scarcities * Abundance (ecology), the relative representation of a species in a community * Abundance (programming language), a Forth-like computer prog ...
can fluctuate markedly as ocean conditions change, and is particularly affected by the El Niño. Three species of jack mackerels are found in coastal waters around New Zealand: the
Australasian Australasian is the adjectival form of Australasia, a geographical region including Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continen ...
, Chilean, and Pacific jack mackerels. They are mainly captured using
purse seine Seine fishing (or seine-haul fishing; ) is a method of fishing that employs a surrounding net, called a seine, that hangs vertically in the water with its bottom edge held down by weights and its top edge buoyed by floats. Seine nets can be dep ...
nets, and are managed as a single stock that includes multiple species. Some mackerel species migrate vertically. Adult
snake mackerel The snake mackerel (''Gempylus serpens'') is the sole species of fish in the monotypic genus ''Gempylus'', belonging to the family Gempylidae (which is also referred to generally as "snake mackerels"). It is found worldwide in tropical and sub ...
conduct a
diel vertical migration Diel vertical migration (DVM), also known as diurnal vertical migration, is a pattern of movement used by some organisms, such as copepods, living in the ocean and in lakes. The word ''diel'' comes from the Latin ''dies'' day, and means a 24-h ...
, staying in deeper water during the day and rising to the surface at night to feed. The young and juveniles also migrate vertically, but in the opposite direction, staying near the surface during the day and moving deeper at night. This species feeds on squid, pelagic crustaceans, lanternfishes, flying fishes,
sauries Sauries are fish of the family Scomberesocidae. There are two genera, each containing two species. The name Scomberesocidae is derived from the ''scomber'', which in turn is derived from the Greek ''skombros'', meaning "mackerel", and the Latin ...
, and other mackerel. It is, in turn, preyed upon by tuna and marlin.


Lifecycle

Mackerel are prolific
broadcast spawner Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquati ...
s, and must breed near the surface of the water because the eggs of the females float. Individual females lay between 300,000 and 1,500,000 eggs. Their eggs and
larvae A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...
are pelagic, that is, they float free in the open sea. The larvae and juvenile mackerel feed on zooplankton. As adults, they have sharp teeth, and hunt small crustaceans such as
copepod Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthos, benthic (living on the ocean floor) ...
s, forage fish,
shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...
, and
squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting t ...
. In turn, they are hunted by larger pelagic animals such as tuna, billfish, sea lions, sharks, and
pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...
s. Off Madagascar, spinner sharks follow migrating schools of mackerel.
Bryde's whale Bryde's whale ( Brooder's), or the Bryde's whale complex, putatively comprises three species of rorqual and maybe four. The "complex" means the number and classification remains unclear because of a lack of definitive information and research ...
s feed on mackerel when they can find them. They use several feeding methods, including skimming the surface,
lunging Lunge refer to: * Lunge (exercise), a weight training exercise * Lunge (fencing), the fundamental offensive fencing technique * Longeing, also spelled Lungeing or Lunging, a technique for training horses where a horse is asked to work at the en ...
, and
bubble net Bubble-net feeding is a feeding behavior engaged in by humpback whale, humpback whales and Bryde's whale, Bryde's whales. It is one of the few Cetacean surfacing behaviour, surface feeding behaviors that humpback whales are known to engage in. This ...
s.


Fisheries

Chub mackerel, ''Scomber japonicus'', are the most intensively fished scombroid mackerel. They account for about half the total capture production of scombroid mackerels. As a species, they are easily confused with Atlantic mackerel. Chub mackerel migrate long distances in oceans and across the Mediterranean. They can be caught with drift nets and suitable trawls, but are most usually caught with surround nets at night by attracting them with lampara lamps. The remaining catch of scombroid mackerels is divided equally between the Atlantic mackerel and all other scombroid mackerels. Just these two species (Chub mackerel and Atlantic mackerel) account for about 75% of the total catch of scombroid mackerels. Chilean jack mackerel are the most commonly fished nonscombroid mackerel, fished as heavily as chub mackerel. The species has been overfished, and its fishery may now be in danger of collapsing. Smaller mackerel behave like
herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...
s, and are captured in similar ways. Fish species like these, which school near the surface, can be caught efficiently by purse seining. Huge purse-seine vessels use spotter planes to locate the schooling fish. Then they close in using sophisticated sonar to track the shape of the school, which is then encircled with fast auxiliary boats that deploy purse seines as they speed around the school. Suitably designed trollers can also catch mackerels effectively when they swim near the surface. Trollers typically have several long booms which they lift and drop with "topping lifts". They haul their lines with electric or hydraulic reels.
Fish aggregating device A fish aggregating (or aggregation) device (FAD) is a man-made object used to attract ocean-going pelagic fish such as marlin, tuna and mahi-mahi (dolphin fish). They usually consist of buoys or floats tethered to the ocean floor with concrete bloc ...
s are also used to target mackerel.


Management

The North Sea has been overfished to the point where the ecological balance has become disrupted and many jobs in the fishing industry have been lost. The Southeast US region spans the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the US Southeast Atlantic. Overfishing of king and Spanish mackerel occurred in the 1980s. Regulations were introduced to restrict the size, fishing locations, and bag limits for recreational fishers and commercial fishers.
Gillnet Gillnetting is a fishing method that uses gillnets: vertical panels of netting that hang from a line with regularly spaced floaters that hold the line on the surface of the water. The floats are sometimes called "corks" and the line with corks is ...
s were banned in waters off Florida. By 2001, the mackerel stocks had bounced back.


As food

Mackerel is an important food fish that is consumed worldwide. As an oily fish, it is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids. The flesh of mackerel spoils quickly, especially in the tropics, and can cause
scombroid food poisoning Scombroid food poisoning, also known as simply scombroid, is a foodborne illness that typically results from eating spoiled fish. Symptoms may include flushed skin, headache, itchiness, blurred vision, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea. Onset of sym ...
. Accordingly, it should be eaten on the day of capture, unless properly refrigerated or cured. Mackerel preservation is not simple. Before the 19th-century development of canning and the widespread availability of refrigeration, salting and smoking were the principal preservation methods available. Historically in England, this fish was not preserved, but was consumed only in its fresh form. However, spoilage was common, leading the authors of ''The Cambridge Economic History of Europe'' to remark: "There are more references to stinking mackerel in English literature than to any other fish!" In France, mackerel was traditionally pickled with large amounts of salt, which allowed it to be sold widely across the country. For many years mackerel was regarded as 'unclean' in the UK and other places due to folklore which suggested that the fish fed on the corpses of dead sailors. A 1976 survey of housewives in Britain undertaken by the
White Fish Authority The Sea Fish Industry Authority (or Seafish) is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Established in 1981, and charged with working with the UK seafood indus ...
indicated a reluctance to departing from buying the traditional staples of cod, haddock or salmon. Less than 10% of the surveys 1,931 respondents had ever bought mackerel and only 3% did so regularly. As a result of this trend many UK fishmongers during the 1970s did not display or even stock mackerel.


References


Further reading

* * * Bigelow HB and Schroeder WC (1953
Fishes of the Gulf of Maine: Mackerel
''Fisheries Bulletin'', Volume 53, Number 74, United States Fish and Wildlife Service. * Burton M and Burton R (2002
''International Wildlife Encyclopedia''
Marshall Cavendish, pp. 1517–1518. . * * Keay JN (2001

Torry advisory note 66. * * * * * ''SPRFMO''(2009
Information describing Chilean jack mackerel (Trachurus murphyi) fisheries relating to the South Pacific Regional Fishery Management Organisation
Working draft.


External links



''British Marine Life Study Society''. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
Mackerel nutrition facts


* {{commercial fish topics Scombridae Oily fish Commercial fish Fish common names