Family MACKERELS AND TUNAS

Color of back iridescent bluish green, sides silvery; streamlined body with tapered head; no black pigment on front of the first dorsal fin; lateral line starts high and drops sharply below the second dorsal fin; young fish often have yellowish spots like those of Spanish mackerel.

Similar fish: Cero, S. regalis; Spanish mackerel, œ maculatus.

Where found: NEARSHORE and OFFSHORE; occasionally taken from piers running into deep water.

Size: Common to 20 pounds.

Remarks: Schooling fish that migrates from south Florida waters in winter to more northerly waters in spring; Gulf population thought to be separate from Atlantic population, with considerable mixing in winter from Cape Canaveral past Key West; spawns in mid summer OFFSHORE; feeds on small fish and squid.

Florida record: 90 lbs.