United States (contiguous states) country information

Common names: Spanish mackerel
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: commercial | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: restricted | Ref:
Uses: gamefish: yes;
Comments: Known from the east coast of the United States, from Cape Cod, Mass.; New York; Cape Hatteras, NC; Charleston, SC; and Brunswick, Ga. Gulf of Mexico: from Captiva Key and St. Andrew Bay, FL; Mobile, Ala.; Biloxi, Miss.; Atchafalaya Bay, La; and, Aransas Bay, Tex. (Ref. 1909). Fisheries management has greatly restricted commercial and recreational fishing. Increasing proportions of this resource are reserved for sport fishing. In recent years, the resource has been recovering and hence, easing some restrictions (Ref. 9987). Also Ref. 26340, 26938.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Collette, B.B. and C.E. Nauen, 1983
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Thazard Atlantique, Carite Atlántico, Spanish mackerel, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Scombriformes (Mackerels) > Scombridae (Mackerels, tunas, bonitos) > Scombrinae
Etymology: Scomberomorus: Latin, scomber = mackerel + Greek, moros = silly, stupid (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Mitchill.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; pelagic-neritic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 10 - 35 m (Ref. 26912). Subtropical; 20°C - 30°C (Ref. 54882); 44°N - 19°N, 97°W - 64°W (Ref. 54882)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Atlantic: Canada (Ref. 5951) to Cape Cod to Miami (USA) and Gulf of Mexico coasts from Florida, USA to Yucatan, Mexico. Three species namely: Scomberomorus tritor in eastern Atlantic, Scomberomorus sierra in eastern Pacific, and Scomberomorus brasiliensis in the Caribbean and Atlantic coast of South America have often been confused with this species. Absent in the Bahamas (Ref. 26938).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m 40.5, range 25 - 51.2 cm
Max length : 91.0 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); max. published weight: 5.9 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 5 years (Ref. 72462)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 17 - 19; Dorsal soft rays (total): 17 - 20; Anal soft rays: 17 - 20; Vertebrae: 51 - 53. Interpelvic process small and bifid. Lateral line gradually curving down toward caudal peduncle. Vertebrae 21-22 precaudal plus 30-31 caudal, total 51-53. Intestine with 2 folds and 3 limbs. Swim bladder absent. Body covered with small scales. First dorsal fin black anteriorly and at distal margin posteriorly. Generally silvery with sides marked with about three rows of round to elliptical dark spots (orange in life).

Migrates in large schools over great distances along the shore. Larvae are found in surface waters between 19.6° and 29.8°C with salinities of 28.3 to 37.4 ppt. Feeds mainly on small fishes (clupeoids and anchovies), few quantities of penaeoid shrimps and cephalopods. Casting, live-bait fishing, jigging, and drift fishing are also employed in capturing this species. Aerial spotting is sometimes used in locating the fish. Marketed fresh, frozen or smoked; eaten pan-fried, broiled and baked.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Collette, Bruce B. | Collaborators

Collette, B.B. and C.E. Nauen, 1983. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 2. Scombrids of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of tunas, mackerels, bonitos and related species known to date. Rome: FAO. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(2):137 p. (Ref. 168)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 10 November 2022

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 31172)

Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; gamefish: yes

FAO(Fisheries: production, species profile; publication : search) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators

Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges

Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances

Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics

Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos

Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths

Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)

Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities

Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.

Outreach
Collaborators

Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures

References
References

Tools

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 22.9 - 26.8, mean 24.1 (based on 132 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00794 (0.00647 - 0.00975), b=3.02 (2.98 - 3.06), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 4.5 ±0.5 se; based on diet studies.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.2-0.38; tm=2-3; Fec=280,000).

Prior r = 0.48, 95% CL = 0.32 - 0.72, Based on 2 full stock assessments.

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Moderate vulnerability (39 of 100).

Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649): High vulnerability (63 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Medium.

Scomberomorus maculatus (Mitchill, 1815)