238 REPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE’ MUSEUM. 
Scomber scombrus Linneus. 
Mackerel. Boston Mackerel. 
Principally distinguished from the next by the sides of the 
body below the median line being immaculate silvery, larger size, 
and dorsal spines X or XII. 
It is abundant at times off our coast, and I have frequently seen 
it from Cape May. One of the best known of food-fishes, and 
reaching a length of 18 inches. Mitchill originally described this, 
the American form, from off Sandy Hook. Dr. H. M. Smith 
says it occurs regularly in the spring, a fact which I have so far 

Mackerel. Scomber scombrus Linneus. 
been able to observe to some extent about Cape May. Though 
I have never seen them during the summer, catches have been 
reported. They are said to occur also in the fall. Scarce about 
Cape May, according to reports. Sometimes a school is taken 
in the deep-sea pounds in the fall. They run small, and are 
mostly number twos. It has not yet been taken in Delaware Bay. 
Scomber scombrus Smith, Bull. U. S. F. Com., XII, 1892, p. 
372- 
Scomber vernalis Mitchill, Tr. Lit. Philos. Soc. N. Y., 1815, p. 
423.—Abbott, Geol. N. J., 1868, p. 812. 
