King mackerel
| King mackerel | ||||||||||||
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King mackerel ( Scomberomorus regalis ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Scomberomorus regalis | ||||||||||||
| ( Bloch , 1793) |
The king mackerel ( Scomberomorus regalis ) is a predatory fish that can reach a maximum length of 1.8 meters and hunts for schooling fish such as sardines , earfish and herring-like fish , cephalopods and crustaceans in small schools or individually over steep outer reefs . It is the type species of the genus Scomberomorus .
features
It is usually just over 80 cm long and has a slender, torpedo-shaped shape. Their basic color is silvery. The sides of the body are patterned with small, dark dots. A few yellow lines and dots run along the sidelines . The sickle-shaped caudal fin and the first third of the dorsal fin are dark. The side line runs in the first half of the body above the body side midline and tends shortly before the second dorsal and anal fin in a sudden curve below the body side midline. The first dorsal fin is supported by 16 to 18, usually 17, fin spines, the second by 16 to 19 fin rays, followed by 7 to 9 rafts. The anal fin is symmetrical opposite the second dorsal fin and has 15 to 20 (usually 18 to 19) fin rays , followed by 7 to 10, usually 8, fin . The pectoral fins are scaled and supported by 20 to 24 (mostly 21 to 22) rays. The king mackerel has 47 to 48 vertebrae, including 28 to 29 tail vertebrae (vertebrae behind the anus). A swim bladder is missing.
distribution
The king mackerel lives in the tropical and subtropical western Atlantic from the coast of Massachusetts to Brazil and the Caribbean . It is most common in the clear water around coral reefs .
Reproduction
King mackerel breeds all year round around Puerto Rico , but only from April to October on the California Bank south of Jamaica . The number of eggs is between 160,000 and 2.23 million, depending on the size of the females.
use
The king mackerel is considered a good food fish and is caught with nets and rods.
literature
- Bruce B. Collette, Cornelia E. Nauen: Scombrids of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalog of tunas, mackerels, bonitos and related species known to date (= FAO Species Catalog. Vol. 2 = FAO Fisheries Synopsis. No. 125, Vol. 2). United Nations Development Program et al., Rome 1983, ISBN 92-5-101381-0 , ( complete edition ).
Web links
- King mackerel on Fishbase.org (English)
- Pictures at FishBase
- Scomberomorus regalis onthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Collette, B., Amorim, AF, Boustany, A., Carpenter, KE, de Oliveira Leite Jr., N., Di Natale, A., Fox, W., Fredou, FL, Graves, J., Viera Hazin, FH, Juan Jorda, M., Minte Vera, C., Miyabe, N., Nelson, R., Oxenford, H., Teixeira Lessa, RP & Pires Ferreira Travassos, PE, 2011. Retrieved October 3 2013.