Description: A small pelagic fish. Body elongate and rounded; snout pointed. Front and hind margins of the eyes covered by an adipose eyelid. Two widely separated dorsal fins. Five dorsal and five anal finlets, after the second dorsal and anal fin, respectively. A single small flap (interpelvic process) between the pelvic fins. Two keels on each side of the caudal peduncle. Caudal fin deeply forked. Back steel-blue with oblique lines which zigzag and undulate; lower sides and belly silvery yellow with spots or wavy broken lines.
Global Distribution: Eastern and Western Atlantic warm waters, including the Mediterranean and Black Sea. View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Maximum length 50 cm; common to 30 cm. Maximum weight 2.17 kg.
Age: Life span estimated between 13 and 15.6 years (in the Azores).
Weight length rel.: Azores (Rosa et al. 2006): a=0.0046, b=3.284, r2=0.972 (n=167).
Portugal, south coast (Santos et al. 2002): a=0.0021, b=3.408, r2=0.982 (n=805).
Portugal, west coast (Mendes et al. 2004): a=0.0020, b=3.442, r2=0.966 (n=323).
Spain, south-west coast (Torres et al. 2012): a=0.0051, b=3.131, r2=0.94 (n=1307).
FishBase: Bayesian estimated length-weight: a=0.01000 (0.00244 - 0.04107), b=3.04 (2.81 - 3.27).
Growth type: Positive allometric (Santos et al. 2002; Mendes et al. 2004; Torres et al. 2012).
von Bertallanfy growth parameters:
Reproduction: In Madeira, spawning takes place between January and April, peaking in February and March. Spawning occurs in several batches of about 250-300 eggs per g of fish.
Maturity: Size at maturity 22.1 cm for males; 21.6 cm for females.
Age at maturity 1.05 years for males; 0.82 years for females.
Behavioural ecology: Schools by size, starting at approximately 3 cm. Schools of adults are the most compact and structured.
Population structure & migrations: May undertake extensive seasonal migrations, with fish moving further north with increased summer temperatures.
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: 0 - 300 m
Habitat: Primarily a coastal species; also epipelatic or mesopelagic over the continental or insular slopes.
Feeding habits: Feeding is opportunistic and non-selective. Adults eat copepods and other crustaceans, fish and squid.
Trophic level: FishBase: 3.9
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Important commercial species in Madeira, where it is fished along with other small pelagic species in the "ruama" purse seine fishery.
Conservation status: Global: Least concern.
Europe: Least concern.
Nutritional information & food safety:
Proximate composition per 100 g:
energy value 151.2 kcal (7.6% DRV)
protein 28.71 g (57.4% DRV)
fat 3.17 g (4.5% DRV)
of which saturates 0.973 g (4.9% DRV)
omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids 1.296 g
REFERENCES
Carpenter K.E., ed. (2002). The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and marine mammals. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. FAO, Rome, pp. 1375-2127.
Collette B.B., Nauen C.E. (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. FAO Fisheries Synopses, 125 vol.2, 137 pp.
IUCN (2014). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. www.iucnredlist.org
Mendes B., Fonseca P., Campos A. (2004). Weight–length relationships for 46 fish species of the Portuguese west coast. Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 20(5): 355-361.
Nieto A., Ralph G.M., Comeros-Raynal M.T., Kemp J., GarcÃa Criado M., Allen D.J., Dulvy N.K., Walls R.H.L., Russell B., Pollard D., GarcÃa S., Craig M., Collette B.B., Pollom R., Biscoito M., Labbish Chao N., Abella A., Afonso P., Ãlvarez H., Carpenter K.E., Clò S., Cook R., Costa M.J., Delgado J., Dureuil M., Ellis J.R., Farrell E.D., Fernandes P., Florin A-B., Fordham S., Fowle, S., Gil de Sola L., Gil Herrera J., Goodpaster A., Harvey M., Heessen H., Herler J., Jung A., Karmovskaya E., Keskin C., Knudsen S.W., Kobyliansky S., KovaÄić M., Lawson J.M., Lorance P., McCully Phillips S., Munroe T., Nedreaas K., Nielsen J., Papaconstantinou C., Polidoro B., Pollock C.M., Rijnsdorp A.D., Sayer C., Scott J., Serena F., Smith-Vaniz W.F., Soldo A., Stump E., Williams J.T. (2015). Europen Red List of Marine Fishes. IUCN and European Union, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 90 pp.
Nogueira N., Cordeiro N., Aveiro M.J. (2012). Chemical composition, fatty acids profile and cholesterol content of commercialized marine fishes captured in Northeastern Atlantic. Journal of Fisheries Sciences, 7(3): 271-286.
Rosa A., Menezes G., Melo O., Pinho M.R. (2006). Weight–length relationships of 33 demersal fish species from Azores archipelago. Fisheries Research, 80(2): 329-332.
Santos M.N., Gaspar M.B., Vasconcelos P., Monteiro C.C. (2002). Weight–length relationships for 50 selected fish species of the Algarve coast (southern Portugal). Fisheries Research, 59(1): 289-295.
Torres M.A., Ramos F., Sobrino I. (2012). Length–weight relationships of 76 fish species from the Gulf of Cadiz (SW Spain). Fisheries Research, 127: 171-175.
