Author: (Cuvier, 1816)

Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1816)

Diagnosis: body moderately deep; its depth at margin of gill cover 4.0-4.8 times in standard length; head longer than body depth. Maxilla covered by lacrymal bone, but extending nearly to end of lacrymal. Intestine 1.3-1.7 times standard length. Gillrakers very long, visible when mouth is opened, 30-46 on lower limb of first arch; moderate number of bristles on longest gillraker, 105 on one side in specimens of 120 mm, 140 in specimens of 150 mm, and 160 in specimens of 180 mm standard length. Colour: back blue-green, flanks silver with golden tint; narrow dark longitudinal bands on upper part of body (golden in fresh specimens) and a black spot on body near lower margin of pectoral fin. Size: to 35 cm fork length, common to 20-25 cm.

Habitat: epipelagic, mainly in coastal waters. Schooling. Food: planktonic organisms, mainly crustaceans. Reproduction: eggs and larvae planktonic.

Distribution: few records from Israel, presumably from individuals that migrated through the Suez Canal. Elsewhere, widespread in the western Indo-Pacific from the Red Sea east to Australia and Samoa and north to Japan.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Superclass Gnathostomata
Class Osteichthyes
Order Perciformes
Suborder Scombroidei
Family Scombridae
Genus Rastrelliger
Species Rastrelliger kanagurta

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1816)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1816)

Synonyms:

Rastrelliger chrysozonus (Ruppell, 1835)


Common name:

Indian mackerel [En]

Collette, B. B. 1970. Rastrelliger kanagurta, another red sea immigrant into the Mediterranean sea, with a key to the mediterranean species of Scombridae. Sea Fish. Res. Sta. Haifa, Bull., (54): 3-6, 1 fig.

Cuvier, G. 1816. Le règne animal distribué d'après son organisation, pour servir de base à l'histoire naturelle des animaux et d'introduction à l'anatomie comparée, 4 vol. Paris. Poissons, 2: pp. 104-351.

Rüppell, E. 1835a. Fische des rothen Meeres, (4): 148 p., 33 pl., in Neue Wirbelthiere zu der Fauna von Abyssinien gehörig. Frankfurt am Main, 1835-1840.

No distribution map was available at OBIS the last time we checked. Retry now.

You can continue searching for Rastrelliger kanagurta on one of these Web sites:

Fauna Europaea (animals) | IOPI (plants) | NCBI (genetic)

Google | Yahoo | MSN | Wikipedia