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Confused about (common) mackerel names.

18K views 11 replies 10 participants last post by  Hawaiian  
Hey Oldtimer,

I agree with Bill....the two in the Eastern Pacific around California are:

the Pacific (Chub) Mackerel (Scomber japonicus)
I think we also call these greenbacks around here

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and the (Pacific) Jack Mackerel (Trachurus symmetricus)
I think we also call these Spanish Mackerel here

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It's amazing how the common names for Mackerel vary by location!

Mark


*Edit*
I searched online for your "Grammatorcynus bilineatus" and that seems to come up as Double-Lined Mackeral, not Scad :)
Scad seems to often come up as the "Atlantic Horse Mackerel" (Trachurus trachurus). I seem to remember skipjacks being called horse mackerel at some point around here but, searching on that, one really sees how this varies by locale!