Three species of Scomber are herein recognized: S. scombrus (Atlantic mackerel), S. japonicus (chub mackerel), and S. australasjcus (spotted chub mackerel).
The chub mackerel is primarily a coastal pelagic species and, to a lesser extent, epipelagic or mesopelagic over the continental slope.
The chub mackerel is a cosmopolitan species inhabiting temperate waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans and neighboring seas. In these waters, adult chub mackerel carry out reproductive migrations from deeper shelf–break waters to coastal areas.
Chub mackerels has an elongate and rounded body, pointed snout, and slim caudal peduncle. The head is small and the lower jaw slightly prominent. The mouth is wide and the teeth of the adult are thin, thinner on the vomer, conical projections situated in a single line on each of the premaxillaries and mandibles.
The tongue is small, with its basal part united to the glossohyal, and finishes in a cartilaginous appendix. The eyes are relatively big with the anterior and posterior margins covered by an adipose eyelid.
Chub mackerel grow rapidly during the first year of life. Chub mackerel attain 40% of their maximum length in the first year of life. Females and males do not exhibit differences in growth rates.
Chub mackerels (Scomber japonicus)
