Atlantic Spanish mackerel

The Atlantic Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus) is a migratory species of mackerel that swims to the northern Gulf of Mexico in spring, and returns to southern Florida in the eastern Gulf, and to Mexico in the western Gulf in the fall.

Distribution

Spanish mackerel occur seasonally from the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, as far north as Cape Cod, Massachusetts. They are a shallow-water species, preferring sand bottom at depths of 10 to 40 ft (3 to 12 m), occasionally found as deep as 80 ft (24 m).

Behaviour

Spanish mackerel are carnivores. As with other members of the genus, food consists mainly of small fishes with lesser quantities of shrimp and squid. Striped anchovies (Engraulidae) and clupeoids such as menhaden, alewives and thread herring (Opisthonema), are particularly important forage in North Carolina, Florida, Texas, and Veracruz. The percentage of anchovies consumed is higher for juveniles than for adults.