Atlantic horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus)

Scientific name: Trachurus trachurus Linnaeus, 1758

Atlantic horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus)

The Atlantic horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) is a marine fish of the family Carangidae. Native range: Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic, Norway to South Africa, round the coast to Maputo.

Biology

Adults form large schools in coastal areas with sandy substrate. Feed on fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods. Are batch spawners. Females lay 140,000 eggs, which hatch into 5mm long larvae. Eggs are pelagic. Utilized fresh, smoked, canned and frozen; can be fried, broiled and baked. Divided into two stocks: West stock and North Sea stock. West stock spawns in a belt from the Biscay to Ireland in early spring, migrates north and eastwards to southern Norway and northern North Sea. North Sea stock spawns in the southern North Sea in summer, migrates to central North Sea, Skagerrak and Kattegat.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Trachurus trachurus
Family
Carangidae (Jacks and pompanos)
Order
Perciformes (Perch-like fish)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
70.0
Common length
22.0
Depth range
0–1050 m (0–3445 ft)
Environment
Marine; pelagic-neritic; oceanodromous; depth range 0 - 1050 m, usually 100 - 200 m
Climate
Subtropical
Distribution
Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic: Norway to South Africa, round the coast to Maputo.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Uses
Fisheries: highly commercial; gamefish: yes; bait: usually
Resilience
Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.12-0.16; tm=2-4; tmax=11; Fec=70,000)

Sources

Taxonomy, distribution and biology data: FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds.), licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

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