Jack mackerels or saurels are marine ray-finned fish in the genus Trachurus of the family Carangidae. The name of the genus derives from the Greek words trachys ("rough") and oura ("tail"). Some species, such as T. murphyi, are harvested in purse seine nets, and overfishing (harvesting beyond sustainable levels) has sometimes occurred.C.Michael Hogan. 2010. Overfishing. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment. eds. Sidney Draggan and C.Cleveland. Washington DC.
It is often used in Japanese cuisine, where it is called aji, in Turkish cuisine, where it is called istavrit, and in Portuguese cuisine, where it is called carapau.
Species
The genus Trachurus was defined in 1810 by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz, who called the type species Trachurus saurus. Taxonomists later determined that T. saurus was in fact the same species as one described earlier as Scomber trachurus, defined in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus. Under the rules of binomial nomenclature, that species is now known as Trachurus trachurus, commonly known as the Atlantic horse mackerel.
The currently recognized species in this genus are: Image Scientific name Common name Distribution Trachurus capensis Castelnau, 1861 Cape horse mackerel southeastern Atlantic from the Gulf of Guinea to eastern South Africa. Trachurus declivis (Jenyns, 1841) greenback horse mackerelwestern and southern Australia, and around New Zealand Trachurus delagoa Nekrasov, 1970 African scadsouth western Indian Ocean. Trachurus indicus Nekrasov, 1966 Arabian scadRed Sea and Somalia through the Persian Gulf east as far as Pakistan and south to the Saya de Malha Bank. Trachurus japonicus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1844) Japanese jack mackerel Japan, apart from Okinawa Island Trachurus lathami Nichols, 1920 rough scadeastern coasts of North and South America and the Gulf of Mexico Trachurus longimanus (Norman, 1935) Crozet scad east Atlantic and south western Indian Oceans Trachurus mediterraneus (Steindachner, 1868) Mediterranean horse mackerel eastern Atlantic from Bay of Biscay to Mauritania, including the Mediterranean Sea. Trachurus murphyi Nichols, 1920 Chilean jack mackerelsouth Pacific off the coasts of Chile and Peru, around New Zealand and south Australia, and in a band across the open ocean in between Trachurus novaezelandiae J. Richardson, 1843 yellowtail horse mackerel Australia and New Zealand Trachurus picturatus (S. Bowdich, 1825) blue jack mackerelthe Bay of Biscay to south Morocco and the western Mediterranean. Trachurus symmetricus (Ayres, 1855) Pacific jack mackerelwestern coast of North America, ranging from Alaska in the north to the Gulf of California in the south Trachurus trachurus (Linnaeus, 1758) Atlantic horse mackereleastern Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. Trachurus trecae Cadenat, 1950 Cunene horse mackerel eastern Atlantic from Morocco south to Angola
References Fitch JE (1956) "Jack mackerel" CalCOFI Reports, 5: 27–28.