Description: A small pelagic schooling fish. Body elongate and rounded; snout pointed. Front and hind margins of the eyes covered by an adipose eyelid. Two widely separated dorsal fins. Anal fin origin opposite that of the second dorsal fin. Back steel-blue with oblique or nearly vertical markings, with relatively little undulating. Belly silvery yellow, unmarked.
Global Distribution: North Atlantic and Mediterranean. View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Maximum length 60.0 cm (fork length); common length 30.0 cm (FL); maximum published weight 3.4 kg.
Age: Maximum reported age: 17 years.
Weight length rel.: Portugal, south coast (Santos et al. 2002): a=0.0064, b=3.079, r2=0.910 (n=245).
Portugal, west coast (Mendes et al. 2004): a=0.0043, b=3.172, r2=0.952 (n=181).
Spain, south-west coast (Torres et al. 2012): a=0.0016, b=3.439, r2=0.95 (n=456).
FishBase: Bayesian estimated length-weight: a=0.00724 (0.00620 - 0.00846), b=3.06 (3.01 - 3.11).
Growth type: Isometric (Santos et al. 2002); Positive allometric (Mendes et al. 2004; Torres et al. 2012).
von Bertallanfy growth parameters:
Reproduction: Batch spawner. Eggs and larvae are pelagic. Fecundity in a medium-sized female fluctuates between 200,000 and 450,000 eggs per season and increases with size. After spawning, the adults feed very actively moving around in small shoals.
Maturity: Maturity is attained at an age of 2 or 3 years, and a mean size of 28.6 cm.
Behavioural ecology: Forms large schools near the surface. Mainly diurnal.
Population structure & migrations: Two stocks with little or no genetic exchange exist: one in the western Atlantic, and another in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: FishBase: 0 - 1000 m, usually 0 - 200 m.
Habitat: Abundant in cold and temperate shelf areas. They overwinter in deeper waters but move closer to shore in spring when water temperatures range between 11° and 14°C.
Feeding habits: Feeds on zooplankton and small fish.
Trophic level: FishBase: 3.7
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Important commercial species in the mainland; rare in Madeira, where Scomber colias is more common.
Conservation status: Global: Least concern.
Europe: Least concern.
Nutritional information & food safety:
Proximate composition per 100 g:
energy value 220 kcal (11.0% DRV)
protein 18.7 g (37.4% DRV)
fat 16.1 g (23.0% DRV)
of which saturates 3.3 g (16.5% DRV)
sodium 63 mg (2.6% DRV)
REFERENCES
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.
Holland B., Brown J., Buss D.H. (1993). Fish and Fish Products. The third supplement to McCance & Widdowson's The Composition of Foods (5th Edition). Royal Society of Chemistry and Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, United Kindgom, 135 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.
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.
