Tabby cat in the spine. The Spotted tabby is a modifier that breaks up the Mackerel tabby pattern so that the stripes appear as spots. Similarly, the stripes of the Classic tabby pattern may be broken into larger spots. Both large spot and small spot patterns can be seen in the Australian Mist, Bengal, Serengeti, Egyptian Mau, Arabian Mau, Maine Coon, and Ocicat breeds. The tabby patterns are due to three distinct gene loci and one modifier: The agouti gene, "A/a", controls whether or not the tabby pattern is expressed. The dominant "A" expresses the underlying tabby pattern, while the recessive non-agouti
Mackerel 21 species in all—18 of those are classified into the genus "Scomberomorus", two into "Grammatorcynus", and a single species into the monotypic genus "Acanthocybium". In addition, a number of species with mackerel-like characteristics in the families Carangidae, Hexagrammidae and Gempylidae are commonly referred to as mackerel. There has been some confusion between the Pacific jack mackerel ("Trachurus symmetricus") and the heavily harvested Chilean jack mackerel ("Trachurus murphyi"). These have been thought at times to be the same species, but are now recognised as separate species. The term "mackerel" is also used as a modifier in the common names of other