Blue mackerel

Taxobox
name = Blue mackerel

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regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Perciformes
familia = Scombridae
genus = "Scomber"
species = "S. australasicus"
binomial = "Scomber australasicus"
binomial_authority = Cuvier, 1832

The blue mackerel, Japanese mackerel, Pacific mackerel, slimy mackerel, or spotted chub mackerel, "Scomber australasicus", a fish of the family Scombridae, is found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Pacific Ocean, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Oman and the Gulf of Aden, in surface waters down to 200 m (660 ft). In Japanese, it is known as goma saba (胡麻鯖 sesame mackerel) because its spots look like sesame seeds. Its length is between 30 and 55 cm (12 and 20 in), and weight over a kilogram (2 lbs).

The blue mackerel has a slim streamlined body with a pointed snout and large eyes, and is one of the smallest members of the tuna/mackerel family. The first dorsal fin is triangular, the second much lower followed by serrated finlets to the deeply forked tail. There are lateral thickening keels on each side of the caudal peduncle and the body is fully scaled. There is a single row of sharp teeth in each jaw, the ones in the lower being larger.

The blue-black back has narrow oblique lines which zigzag and undulate, and the belly is pearly white and marked with thin, wavy broken lines.

There is a swim bladder present. The blue mackerel feeds upon copepods and other crustaceans, squid, and small fish.

References

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* Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, "Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand", (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8