Pacific mackerel

[ SCOMBER JAPONICUS ]

As members of the tuna family, mackerel are one of the ocean’s top predators. Nearly every aspect of their bodies is devoted to speed and power -- including dorsal fins that tuck inside special grooves during high-speed chases, a highly efficient circulatory system that holds heat, and unusually smooth skin with embedded scales that reduce drag. So specialized are these fish that they have no air bladder that would keep them afloat and instead must swim constantly to keep from sinking. In addition, the mackerel’s unusual respiratory system depends on the fish swimming fast enough to produce a turbocharged flow of water over the gills, or it will suffocate. Mackerel hunt their prey of small schooling fish in packs, relying on their own vivid body patterns and excellent eyesight to coordinate their efforts in the dusky underwater world. Ramming into schools of anchovies and sardines with shocking ferocity, a pack of mackerel can readily confuse and scatter their elusive prey, making it easier to pick off weaker individuals.

NATURAL HISTORY

Pacific mackerel breed several times from March to October, with each female producing between 500,000 and 1 million eggs in a season.

KEY CHARACTERISTICS

Slender, torpedo-shaped fish with huge eyes and about 30 wavy dark bands on its upper parts, year-round resident in coastal waters south

of Point Conception.