Family : Carangidae (Jacks and pompanos)
Order : Perciformes  (perch-likes)
Class : Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
Fishbase Name : Mackerel scad
Fish Name : Decapterus macarellus
Max size : 46.0 cm TL (male/unsexed; Ref. 55763)
Environment : pelagic-oceanic ; depth range 0 - 400 m
Climate : subtropical; 45°N - 35°S
Global Importance : fisheries: commercial; bait: usually
Resilience: High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (K=0.8)Distribution : Circumglobal. Western Atlantic: Nova Scotia, Canada and Bermuda to approximately Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Ref. 57756). Appears to be absent from the Gulf of Mexico (Ref. 9626). Eastern Atlantic: St. Helena, Ascension, Cape Verde, and Gulf of Guinea (Ref. 7097); Azores and Madeira (Ref. 4233). Indian Ocean: Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Seychelles, Mascarenes, South Africa, and Sri Lanka (Ref. 3287). Eastern Pacific: Gulf of California and Revillagigedo Island to Ecuador (Ref. 9283).
Diagnosis : Dorsal spines (total): 9-9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 31-36; Anal spines: 3-3; Anal soft rays: 27-30. Body elongate, slender, and somewhat circular in cross section; posterior edge of upper jaw straight dorsally, moderately rounded and oblique ventrally; edge of shoulder girdle (cleithrum) with two small papillae, the lower one larger; dorsal and anal fins each followed by a separate finlet; black metallic blue green; belly is silvery white; dorsal edge of operculum with a small black mark (Ref. 55763). Bluish green above, silvery below; yellow-green caudal fin; small black opercular spot (Ref. 3197). No dark dots on lateral line; caudal fin reddish (Ref. 13442).
Biology : Prefer clear oceanic waters, frequently around islands (Ref. 5217). Sometimes near the surface, but generally caught between 40 and 200 m depth (Ref. 9283). Pelagic (Ref. 58302). Usually seen as fast moving schools along the reef edges near deep water (Ref. 48635, 26235). Feed mainly on zooplankton (Ref. 9283). Eggs are pelagic (Ref. 4233). Marketed fresh and salted or dried (Ref. 9283)
Threatened : Dangerous:  
Dangerous : reports of ciguatera poisoning , Coupal, L., E. Bédard, C. Peguero and I.S. Durante. 1992
Coordinator : Smith-Vaniz, William F.
Main Ref : Smith-Vaniz, W.F.. 1995. (Ref. 9283)

India country information
Common Names : [ No common name ]
Status : native
Salinity : marine
Uses : no uses