Scomber australasicus, Blue mackerel : fisheries, gamefish, bait

You can sponsor this page

Scomber australasicus Cuvier, 1832

Blue mackerel
Add your observation in Fish Watcher
Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Scomber australasicus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
 Pictures | Google image
Image of Scomber australasicus (Blue mackerel)
Scomber australasicus
Picture by Gloerfelt-Tarp, T.

Common names from other countries

Maquereau tacheté, Caballa pintoja, Скумбрия австралийская, ... 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: Scomber: Greek, skombros = tunny or mackerel, 1623 (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Cuvier.

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

Marine; pelagic-neritic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 87 - 200 m (Ref. 9563). Subtropical; 43°N - 50°S, 32°E - 110°W (Ref. 168)

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

Indo-West Pacific: Red Sea, Persian Gulf; from Japan, south to Australia and New Zealand. Eastern Pacific: Hawaii and off Mexico (Socorro Island).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 44.0 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); common length : 30.0 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 168); max. published weight: 1.4 kg (Ref. 40637)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 10 - 13; Dorsal soft rays (total): 12; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 12; Vertebrae: 31. No well developed corselet but body covered with rather small scales. Palatine narrow. Anal fin origin clearly more posterior than that of second dorsal fin. Anal fin spine independent from anal fin. Swim bladder present. Snout pointed. Interpelvic process small and single. Back with narrow oblique lines which zigzag and undulate; the belly is pearly white and marked with thin, wavy broken lines.
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal; Cross section: oval.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs in coastal waters (Ref. 9340) and also in oceanic waters (Ref. 9563). Minimum depth reported at 87 m (Ref. 58489); fishing depths to 265 m (cited in Ref. 58302). Schooling by size which may include jack mackerels and Pacific sardines. They are plankton feeders filtering copepods and other crustaceans, but adults also feed on small fish and squids. Also caught with encircling nets (Ref. 9340). Marketed fresh, dried-salted, smoked, canned and frozen (Ref. 9987).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | 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: Version 2025-1)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 15 August 2022

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes; bait: usually
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genome
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Identification keys | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Catch-MSY |

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

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 10.8 - 24.3, mean 18.7 °C (based on 185 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5625   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00912 (0.00801 - 0.01039), b=3.05 (3.02 - 3.08), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.2   ±0.5 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.28).
Prior r = 0.60, 95% CL = 0.39 - 0.90, Based on 1 full stock assessment.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (43 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Low to moderate vulnerability (30 of 100). 🛈
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 52.1 [17.4, 129.4] mg/100g; Iron = 2 [1, 5] mg/100g; Protein = 21 [20, 22] %; Omega3 = 0.392 [0.257, 0.600] g/100g; Selenium = 74.3 [27.5, 192.3] μg/100g; VitaminA = 24.7 [5.9, 109.4] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.822 [0.487, 1.377] mg/100g (wet weight);