FISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 
203 
78. Genus SCOMBEROMORUS Lacepede. Spanish mackerels 
Body elongate, more or less compressed; snout quite long, pointed; mouth large; maxillary 
not concealed by preorbital; teeth in the jaws strong, compressed; vomer and palatines with granu- 
lar teeth; gill rakers rather short and few in number; scales small, rudimentary, not forming a 
corselet on anterior part of body; caudal peduncle with a keel in the lateral line and a supplemental 
one above and below it; first dorsal with 14 to 18 feeble spines; interval between dorsals slight; 
second dorsal and anal each followed by 7 to 10 finlets; ventrals small; pectorals moderate, inserted 
near level of eyes; alimentary canal short; air bladder present. 
KEY TO THE SPECIES 
a. Sides of body with roundish bronzy spots but without dark, longitudinal stripes; pectoral fins 
scaleless r maculatus, p. 203 
aa. Sides with elongate bronzy spots and with one or two dark, longitudinal stripes; pectoral fins 
mostly covered with scales regalis, p. 205 
103. Scomberomorus maculatus (Mitchill). Spanish mackerel. 
Scomber maculatus Mitchill, Trans'., Lit. and Phil. Soc., N. Y., 1, 1814, p. 426; New York. 
Cybium maculatum Uhler and Lugger, 1876, ed. I, p. 110; ed. II, p. 92; McDonald, 1882, p. 12, fig. 1. 
Scomberomorus maculatus Bean, 1891, p. 87; Smith, 1892, p. 71; Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 874, PI. CXXXIV, 
fig. 368. 
Head 3.2 to 4.8; depth 4 to 5; D. XVIII-14 to 17-VIII or IX; A. II, 14 to 16- VIII or IX. 
Body elongate, compressed; dorsal and ventral outlines about evenly rounded; caudal peduncle 
Fig. 115. — Scomberomorus maculatus. From a specimen 10% inches long 
slender, with a median lateral keel and a small supplemental keel both above and below it; head 
compressed; snout long, pointed, its length 2.45 to 2.75 in head; eye 4.55 to 4.9; mouth large, 
oblique; lower jaw (at least in young) a little shorter than the upper; maxillary reaching opposite 
posterior margin of eye, 1.6 to 1.8 in head; teeth in the jaws compressed, variable in size and num- 
ber; gill rakers about half the length of eye in adult, very short in young, 8 to 10 on lower limb of 
first arch; first dorsal with slender spines; second dorsal and anal similar, densely scaled, each 
fin followed by 8 or 9 finlets; the origin of second dorsal a little in advance of anal; caudal fin 
broadly forked; ventral fins small, shorter than snout; pectoral fins not scaly, short, 1.5 to 2.85 
in head. 
Color of a fresh specimen 260 millimeters (10)4 inches) in length, dark blue above, with sky- 
blue reflections; silvery below; sides with roundish yellow spots, forming three longitudinal 
rows, the lower one present only on anterior part of body; spinous dorsal mostly black, the base 
of the short spines white; soft dorsal greenish, with dusky tips; finlets pale green; caudal greenish 
dusky, the tips of lobes mostly black; anal and ventrals pale; pectorals greenish at base, dusky 
at tips. 
No specimens of this common species from Chesapeake Bay were preserved. It is here 
described from specimens collected at Beaufort, N. C., ranging in length from 45 to 355 millimeters 
(1^4 to 14 inches). 
The Spanish mackerels congregate in schools; they appear to be migratory in their habits, 
appearing off the Middle Atlantic States in spring and fall runs, the first presumably representing 
