Common Name: Slimy Mackerel

Distribution: Abundant in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-West Pacific region: from the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, Japan south to Australia and New Zealand. Eastern Pacific including Hawaii and Socorro Island off Mexico. In Australia, common throughout all southern waters, from Shark Bay in Western Australia to northern New South Wales and including around Tasmania.

Ecological Notes: Frequents coastal and oceanic waters, rocky reef and flats, enters large estuaries. Depth 1 – 265 m.

Additional Notes: Elongated greenish body with scribbled pattern on back above the midline, large eye and yellowish tail. Often in very large schools, is a sought after bait species. Feeds on zooplankton in the water column. Grows to 50 cm.

References: Kuiter, R. H., Coastal Fishes of South-Eastern Australia. Published by Crawford House Press Pty. Ltd., 1993. p.377.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Scomber+australasicus. Accessed 07/07/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Scomber-australasicus.html. Accessed 07/07/18.