Trachurus declivis (Jenyns, 1841)
Greenback horse mackerel
Trachurus declivis
photo by CSIRO

Family:  Carangidae (Jacks and pompanos), subfamily: Caranginae
Max. size:  64 cm SL (male/unsexed); max. reported age: 25 years
Environment:  benthopelagic; brackish; marine; depth range 27 - 460 m
Distribution:  Southwest Pacific: Western Australia to New South Wales, including New Zealand. Principal component analysis of morphometric and meristic characters indicates three separate subpopulations in the Great Australian Bight, off New South Wales, and off Tasmania (Ref. 7456).
Diagnosis:  Dorsal spines (total): 9-9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 29-35; Anal spines: 3-3; Anal soft rays: 24-29; Vertebrae: 24-24. Adults are elongate and slightly compressed, and have a primary lateral line with 71-89 scutes, and a secondary lateral line reaching to below dorsal-fin rays 7-9 (Ref. 33616).
Biology:  Adults are commonly found near the bottom, in midwater and occasionally at the surface (Ref. 9258) in continental shelf waters (Ref. 27930). They form pelagic schools for most of the year but may move close to the sea bed during winter (Ref. 27931). Generally found at less than 300 m water depth with temperature less than 16° C (Ref. 9072). Juveniles inhabit coastal and estuarine waters although they may sometimes be found offshore (Ref. 27930). Adults feed mostly during the day mainly on krill and other planktonic crustaceans, light fish (Sternoptychidae) and lantern fish (Myctophidae) at the edge of the continental shelf (Ref. 27933).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 19 July 2017 Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


Source and more info: www.fishbase.org. For personal, classroom, and other internal use only. Not for publication.