202 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
The mackerel is present off the New England coast from spring to fall. The first catches are 
made between Cape Hatteras and Chesapeake Bay between the end of March and middle of April, 
but the fish are not seen again in this region until the following year. Off the New England coast 
the first mackerel appear in May, remaining until November. Not much is known of the winter 
home of the mackerel in the western Atlantic, but stray fish have been taken on Georges Bank and 
in South Channel in February or March. It is suggested by Bigelow and Welsh that mackerel 
may winter on the continental shelf at a depth of 100 to 200 fathoms and not farther south than 
Cape Hatteras. No mackerel have ever been reported more than a few miles south of Cape Hatteras 
at any time. 
The mackerel, although one of the most valuable food fishes of the north Atlantic, is of no 
commercial importance in Chesapeake Bay. Toward the end of April and early in May a few small 
mackerel sometimes stray inside the mouth of the bay and are caught in pound nets below Cape 
Charles city and at Lynnhaven Roads, Va. In a pound net operated in these localities usually only 
about five or six mackerel are caught during a season, and sometimes none at all are taken. As 
early as 1876, Uhler and Lugger state that at that time this fish was much less common in Chesa- 
peake Bay than formerly. Whether the species ever was common enough within the bay to be of 
commercial value probably will remain unknown. 
The mackerel attains a length of 22 inches and, when in prime condition in the fall, a weight 
of 4 pounds. Fish of the same school are usually all about the same size. We have observed that 
commonly 90 to 95 per cent of a catch at Provincetown consisted of fish that did not vary more 
than 1 inch in length (by actual measurement in the course of tagging the fish for the purpose of 
determining their migrations). At times large numbers of “tinkers” are caught; that is, fish about 
8 to 10 inches in length. The usual size of market fish is 12 to 16 inches, but a length of 18 to 20 
inches is not unusual. 
Habitat . — North Atlantic, inhabiting both coasts; known on the American coast from Labrador 
to Cape Hatteras. 
Chesapeake localities.— -(a) Previous record: Chesapeake Bay (Uhler and Lugger, 1876). 
(6) Specimens in collection: From Lynnhaven Roads, Va. 
77. Genus PNEUMATOPHORUS Jordan and Gilbert. Chub mackerels 
This genus differs from Scomber in the possession of a well-developed air bladder. Externally 
it differs principally in having fewer (9 or 10) weak spines in the dorsal fin. 
102. Pneumatophorus colias (Gmelin). Chub mackerel; Thimble-eye mackerel; Bull’s-eye. 
Scomber colias Gmelin, Syst. Nat., 1788, p. 1329; Sardina. Uhler and Lugger, 1876 ed. I, p. 109; ed. II, p. 91; Jordan and Ever- 
mann, 1896-1900, p. 866, PI. C XXXIII, fig. 364. 
This species was once recorded by Uhler and Lugger as entering Chesapeake Bay. It is not 
reported by other investigators, and it was not seen there by us. Uhler and Lugger (1876) do not 
say that they had specimens, and their record may have been based only upon an observation. 
We find no other record showing that this fish has been taken south of the New Jersey coast. 
This species is readily distinguished from the common mackerel by the shorter first dorsal 
(which has only 9 or 10 spines), by the dusky spots extending well below the lateral line in the 
adult, and by the much larger eye (comparing fish of nearly the same size). Its feeding habits 
appear to be similar to those of the common mackerel. Nothing is known of its breeding habits. 
Along our North Atlantic coast this mackerel occurs irregularly. In some years large catches 
are made off the New England coast, and again it appears to be entirely absent. In the spring of 
1925 we observed that about 1 per cent of the mackerel catch at Provincetown consisted of this 
species. 
As a food fish it is said to equal the common mackerel and is not culled from the catch. The 
maximum length is 14 inches, but fish 11 to 13 inches long are often caught. 
Habitat . — Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; on the western Atlantic coast from the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence to New Jersey, and possibly very rarely to Virginia. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous records: “Enters Chesapeake Bay from the ocean” 
(Uhler and Lugger, 1876). (b) Specimen in collection: None. 
