Atlantic Horse Mackerel (Trachurus Trachurus)

Latin name: Trachurus trachurus
Common name: Atlantic horse mackerel
Also known as: Jurel, scad
In other languages: E: Jurel, F: Chinchard d'Europe, D: Sticker, Bastardmakrele
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Carangidae
Genus: Trachurus

Habitat: These pelagic open water fish lives close to the surface of the sea; in the summer months they come close to the coastline.

Reproduction: Eggs 0.81 mm to 1.04 mm; fish mature at 3 to 4 years.

Behaviour: They often move in large shoals. The young ones are associated with jellyfish, in that they can be seen in their juvenile stages taking refuge within or close to the tentacles of jellyfish. The relationship between the two is not truly a symbiotic one, very small fish simply take what limited shelter they can find in a very big sea.

Diet: Sprats and similar small fish.

Size: Common: 15 - 30cm, maximum: 60cm.

Shape: Slender body, the lateral line is distinctive and as with trachurus mediterraneus, the scales covering this line are armoured.

Colour: Greyish-blue to greenish with silvery sides and white below

Did you know: There is a phrase 'To throw a sprat to catch a mackerel'. It means the hope of a bigger return (the mackerel) via the concession of a smaller one (the sprat).

Links: Mediterranean Horse Mackerel - Trachurus Mediterraneus