Mackerel fish, sometimes indicating the fish has vertical stripes similar to a scombroid mackerel: By extension, the term is applied also to other species such as the mackerel tabby cat, and to inanimate objects such as the altocumulus mackerel sky cloud formation. Most mackerel belong to the family Scombridae, which also includes tuna and bonito. Generally mackerel are much smaller and slimmer than tuna, though in other respects they share many common characteristics. Their scales, if present at all, are extremely small. Like tuna and bonito, mackerel are voracious feeders, and are swift and manoeuvrable swimmers, able to streamline themselves by
Atlantic horse mackerel Atlantic horse mackerel The Atlantic horse mackerel ("Trachurus trachurus") is a species of jack mackerel in the family Carangidae. It gets its common name from the legend that other smaller species of fish could ride on its back over great distances. Other common names include European horse mackerel (in the U.S.), common scad, scad, and saurel. The Atlantic horse mackerel can be found in the eastern Atlantic from Norway to South Africa, including Iceland, the Azores, the Canary Islands, and Cape Verde, and also in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. It congregates in large schools in coastal waters, where