19th century illustration by Olof Gylling (1850-1928) of the Atlantic mackerel, Scomber scombrus and Atlantic horse mackerel
The Atlantic horse mackerel, Trachurus trachurus is a species of mackerel in the family Carangidae. It gets its common name from the legend that other smaller species of fish could ride on the back of it over great distances. Other common names include common scad, maasbanker, pollock, scad, saurel, rough scad. The Atlantic horse mackerel can be found in the north-eastern Atlantic from Iceland to Senegal, including the Cape Verde islands, and also in the Mediterranean and, rarely, in the Black Sea. It congregates in large schools in coastal waters, where it feeds on crustaceans, squid, and other fishes. There are two main populations: the west stock which spawn in the eastern Atlantic off the coasts of western Europe, and the north stock which spawn in the North Sea. This mackerel is edible and can be smoked, fried, salted and baked etc. It is an important commercial fish. The Atlantic mackerel, Scomber scombrus, is a pelagic schooling species of mackerel found on both sides of the North Atlantic Ocean. The species is also called Boston mackerel, or just mackerel. The Atlantic Mackerel is by far the most common of the ten species of the family that are caught in British waters. It is extremely common in huge shoals migrating towards the coast to feed on small fish and prawns during the summer. Abundant in cold and temperate shelf areas, it forms large schools near the surface. They overwinter in deeper waters but move closer to shore in spring when water temperatures range between 11° and 14°C. In north-east Atlantic: North Sea (east) and British Isles (west). The North Sea stock decreased dramatically in the 1960s because of direct overfishing. Male and female Atlantic mackerel grow at about the same rate, reaching a maximum age of about 20 years and a maximum fork length of about 47 cm. Most Atlantic mackerel are sexually mature by the age of three years.
Size: 5065px × 3459px
Photo credit: © markku murto/art / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: 19th, animal, art, atlantic, baked, century, commercial, common, cooked, drawing, fish, fisher, fishing, food, fried, game, gylling, horse, illustration, maasbanker, mackerel, painting, pollock, rough, salted, sashimi, saurel, scad, scomber, scombrus, seafood, smoked, sport, sports, sushi, trachurus, vintage
