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
Atka mackerel on their fins. They have 21 spines, and anywhere from 25-29 rays on their dorsal fins, and only one spine (but 24-26 rays) on their anal fins. Found exclusively in the northern Pacific, Atka mackerel are known from Cape Navarin in the Bering sea, and from Stalemate and Bowers Bank in the Aleutian chain to Icy bay, Alaska. They can also be rarely seen as far south as Redondo Beach, California. Atka mackerel can generally be found from the intertidal zone to depths up to 575 meters. Atka mackerel migrate from shelves to coastal waters to spawn which occurs (in