Cape horse mackerel
Cape horse mackerel | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Carangiformes |
Family: | Carangidae |
Genus: | Trachurus |
Species: | T. capensis
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Binomial name | |
Trachurus capensis Castelnau , 1861 |
The Cape horse mackerel (Trachurus capensis) is a mackerel-like species in the family Carangidae.[2] It is a pelagic species of the south eastern Atlantic Ocean which is a target of fisheries, mainly as bycatch.
Description
The Cape horse mackerel has an elongated, slightly compressed, body with a large head. It has no distinctive markings apart from a small, black spot on edge of its operculum near the upper angle. The dorsal part of body and head are dark and can be dusky, almost black or grey, to bluish green in colour while the flanks, belly and head are usually paler, varying from whitish to silvery.[3] Their maximum reported length is 60 cm, with a common length of 30 cm.[4]
Distribution
The Cape horse mackerel is found in the southeastern Atlantic from the
Habitat and biology
Cape horse mackerel adults are found mainly over the continental shelf, especially where there is a substrate of sand. The shoals rise to the surface waters at night to feed and remain near to the bottom during the day. The juveniles prey mostly on copepods while the adults feed on fishes and a wider variety of invertebrates.[4]
Taxonomy
Trachurus capensis is considered to be a subspecies of the Atlantic horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) by some authorities but it is thought that there is no adequate series of this specimens of these taxa along the coast of Africa available to confirm the validity of this taxon.[1]
Fisheries
Cape horse mackerel is a bycatch species in the offshore demersal trawl, which operates mainly off the waters of the Western Cape at depths of 110m and deeper. The offshore demersal trawl fishery operates using trawl nets which are dragged behind the boat along the ocean floor at depths from 110 – 800 m. Cape horse mackerel caught in the midwater trawl fishery are considered to be more sustainable than those caught in the offshore trawl fishery (see Cape horse mackerel assessment for midwater trawl). This fishery primarily targets deepwater hake (
References
- ^ . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ "Trachurus capensis (Castelnau, 1861)". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
- ^ a b "Species Fact Sheets Trachurus capensis (Castelnau, 1861)". FAO. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2019). "Trachurus capensis" in FishBase. August 2019 version.