The English language common names for this species are Atlantic spanish mackerel, horse mackerel, spotted mackerel, Spaniard, spotted cybium and Spanish mackerel. Other common names include pyatnistaya makrel, pyatnistaya makrel and ispanskaya makrel (Russian), carite, carite Atl??ntico, pintada, serrucho, sierra
Geographical Distribution
Spanish mackerel are found in the subtropical and tropical waters off North America and the Caribbean. They are locally found along the Atlantic coast from as far north as Nova Scotia (Canada) and south to Florida along the Gulf of Mexico (US). Florida is considered to be the area with the highest abundance of Spanish mackerel This species is also seen along the north coast of Cuba and throughout the Gulf of Mexico to the Yucatan Peninsula. It is replaced from Belize to Brazil by a similar species referred to as Scomberomorus brasiliensis (Collette, Russo, and Zavalla-Camin, 1978).
Habitat
Spanish mackerel are epipelagic, residing at depths ranging from 33-115 feet (10-35 m). They are often found in very large schools near the surface of the water. They frequent barrier islands and the passes associated with these islands and are rarely found in low salinity waters. Spanish mackerel larvae occur mostly offshore while juvenile mackerels are found both offshore and in the beach surf.
Migrating over large distances close to shore, Spanish mackerel in the Atlantic Ocean follow the coastline northward during the warmer summer months and back in the autumn and winter months to waters off Florida. There are some populations of this fish in the Gulf of Mexico that migrate westwards in the early spring to waters off Texas. This species also migrates along the coast of Mexico southward between August and November and then northward again in March and April.
