Editing Mackerel (section)

==Characteristics (Scombridae)==
[[File:Scomber scombrus illustration.png|thumb|400px|Like other scombroids, mackerel such as this [[Atlantic mackerel]] are superb swimmers, and can retract their fins into grooves on their bodies for streamlining. They have deeply forked tails and are smaller and slimmer than [[tuna]].<ref name=FAOTuna /><ref>{{cite web | date = 2007-05-01 | title = Species Fact Sheet: Atlantic mackerel ''(Scomber scombrus)'' | url = http://www.gov.ns.ca/fish/sportfishing/species/atlmack.shtml | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120314152001/http://www.gov.ns.ca/fish/sportfishing/species/atlmack.shtml | archive-date = 2012-03-14 | publisher = Nova Scotia Fisheries and Aquaculture }}</ref>]]

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 [[Fish scale|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 retracting their fins into grooves on their bodies. Like other scombroids, they lack a [[swim bladder]], and their bodies are cylindrical with numerous [[Fish fin|finlets]] on the [[dorsum (biology)|dorsal]] and [[ventral]] sides behind the [[dorsal fin|dorsal]] and [[anal fin]]s, but unlike the deep-bodied tuna, they are slim.<ref name=FAOTuna />

The [[type species]] for scombroid mackerels is the Atlantic mackerel, ''Scomber scombrus''. These fish are [[iridescence|iridescent]] blue-green above with a silvery underbelly and near-vertical wavy black stripes running along their upper bodies.<ref name=FishBasescombrus /><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.fishwatch.gov/seafood_profiles/species/mackerel/species_pages/atlantic_mackerel.htm | title = Atlantic mackerel | publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | work = FishWatch | access-date = 2012-03-12 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120320184708/http://www.fishwatch.gov/seafood_profiles/species/mackerel/species_pages/atlantic_mackerel.htm | archive-date = 2012-03-20 | url-status = dead}}</ref>{{Failed verification | date = May 2019 | reason = Both references don't say anything about type species, colors, or stripes, i.e., don't say anything about what these two sentences say at all.}}

The prominent stripes on the back of mackerels seemingly are there to provide camouflage against broken backgrounds. That is not the case, though, because mackerel live in midwater pelagic environments which have no background.<ref name=Denton1998>{{cite journal | last1 = Denton | first1 = EJ | last2 = Rowe | first2 = DM | year = 1998 | title = Bands against stripes on the backs of mackerel, ''Scomber scombrus'' L. | journal = Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B | volume = 265 | issue = 1401 | pages = 1051–1058 | pmc = 1689176 | doi = 10.1098/rspb.1998.0398 }}</ref> However, fish have an [[optokinetic reflex]] in their [[Vision in fish|visual systems]] that can be sensitive to moving stripes.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Shaw | first1 = E | last2 = Tucker | first2 = A | year = 1965 | title = The optomotor reaction of schooling carangid fishes | journal = Animal Behaviour | volume = 13 | issue = 2–3| pages = 330–336 | doi=10.1016/0003-3472(65)90052-7| pmid = 5835850 }}</ref> For fish to school efficiently, they need feedback mechanisms that help them align themselves with adjacent fish, and match their speed. The stripes on neighbouring fish provide "schooling marks", which signal changes in relative position.<ref name=Denton1998 /><ref name="Bone">{{cite book | last1 = Bone | first1 = Q | last2 = Moore | first2 = RH | year = 2008 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sLoqT_xWaqoC&q=%22Biology+of+fishes%22++Bone+Moore | title = Biology of Fishes | publisher = Taylor & Francis Group | pages = 418–422 | isbn = 978-0-415-37562-7}}</ref> The [[lateral line]] also helps with orderly [[Shoaling and schooling|schooling]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Terpstra |first=Styze |date=September 27, 2010 |title=The role of the lateral line in schooling |url=https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/9477/1/Biol_BC_2010_Sytzeterpstra.pdf |website=University of Groningen}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last1=Tidswell |first1=Ben K. |title=Different functions for the lateral line in schooling behavior in three fish species |date=2025-01-25 |url=https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.24.634378v1 |access-date=2025-04-24 |publisher=bioRxiv |language=en |doi=10.1101/2025.01.24.634378 |last2=Tytell |first2=Eric D.}}</ref>

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[[File:Pacific Jack Mackerel School, 2007.jpg|thumb|360px|left|Mackerel, such as these [[Pacific jack mackerel]], usually have vertical stripes on their sides which provide "schooling marks", visual clues that help them stay in formation as they [[Shoaling and schooling|school]].<ref name=Denton1998 />]]

A layer of thin, reflecting platelets is seen on some of the mackerel stripes. In 1998, [[Eric James Denton|E J Denton]] and D M Rowe argued that these platelets transmit additional information to other fish about how a given fish moves. As the orientation of the fish changes relative to another fish, the amount of light reflected to the second fish by this layer also changes. This sensitivity to orientation gives the mackerel "considerable advantages in being able to react quickly while schooling and feeding."<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Rowe | first1 = DM | last2 = Denton | first2 = EJ | author-link2= Eric James Denton|year = 1997 | title = The physical basis of reflective communication between fish, with special reference to the horse mackerel, ''Trachurus trachurus'' | journal = Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B | volume = 352 | issue = 1353| pages = 531–549 | pmc=1691948 | doi=10.1098/rstb.1997.0037| bibcode = 1997RSPTB.352..531R }}</ref>

Mackerel range in size from small [[forage fish]] to larger [[game fish]]. Coastal mackerel tend to be small.<ref name="Lal8">{{cite book | last1 = Lal | first1 = BV | last2 = Fortune | first2 = K | year = 2000 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=T5pPpJl8E5wC&q=%22Pelagic+fish%22&pg=PA8 | title = The Pacific Islands: An encyclopedia | publisher = University of Hawaii Press | pages = 8 | isbn = 9780824822651 }}</ref> The king mackerel is an example of a larger mackerel. Most fish are [[Ectothermic|cold-blooded]], but exceptions exist. Certain species of fish maintain elevated body temperatures. [[Warm-blooded|Endothermic]] [[bony fish]]es are all in the suborder [[Scombroidei]] and include the [[butterfly mackerel]], a species of [[Primitive (phylogenetics)|primitive]] mackerel.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Block | first1 = BA | last2 = Finnerty | first2 = JR | year = 1993 | title = Endothermy in fishes: a phylogenetic analysis of constraints, predispositions, and selection pressures | journal = Environmental Biology of Fishes | volume = 40 | issue = 3 | pages = 283–302 | doi = 10.1007/BF00002518 | s2cid = 28644501 }}</ref>

Mackerel are strong swimmers. Known in the latin family as "punctualis piscis" which translates to "punctual fish." This is due to its punctuality of migration during mating season as it moves from warm to cold waters. Atlantic mackerel can swim at a sustained speed of 0.98 m/sec with a burst speed of 5.5&nbsp;m/sec,<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Wardle | first1 = CS | last2 = He | first2 = P | year = 1988 | title = Burst swimming speeds of mackerel, ''Scomber scombrus'' | journal = Journal of Fish Biology | volume = 32 | issue = 3| pages = 471–478 | doi=10.1111/j.1095-8649.1988.tb05382.x| bibcode = 1988JFBio..32..471W }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Wardle | first1 = CS | last2 = He | first2 = P | year = 1988 | title = Endurance at intermediate swimming speeds of Atlantic mackerel, ''Scomber scombrus'' L., herring, ''Clupea harengus'' L., and saithe, ''Pollachius virens'' L | journal = Journal of Fish Biology | volume = 33 | issue = 2| pages = 255–266 | doi=10.1111/j.1095-8649.1988.tb05468.x| bibcode = 1988JFBio..33..255H }}</ref> while chub mackerel can swim at a sustained speed of 0.92&nbsp;m/sec with a burst speed of 2.25&nbsp;m/sec.<ref name=FAOTuna>{{cite web | title = FAO Fact Sheet: Biological characteristics of tuna | url = http://www.fao.org/fishery/topic/16082/en | access-date = 2012-03-06 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190205223834/http://www.fao.org/fishery/topic/16082/en | archive-date = 2019-02-05 | url-status = live}}</ref> The [[Wahoo]] (''Acanthocybium solandri'') has been known to reach speeds of up to {{Convert|78|kph|mph|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Top 5 Fastest Fish in the Ocean {{!}} The Speedsters of the Sea |url=https://danawharf.com/blog/top-5-fastest-fish-in-the-ocean/ |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=Dana Wharf |language=en-US}}</ref>

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