Mediterranean horse mackerel
Trachurus mediterraneus (Steindachner, 1868)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Mediterranean horse mackerel (Trachurus mediterraneus), also known as the Black Sea horse mackerel, horse mackerel, Mediterranean scad, common scad, or simply scad, is a species of mackerel in the family Carangidae found in the eastern Atlantic from Bay of Biscay to Mauritania, including the Mediterranean Sea. It is a benthopelagic, subtropical, marine fish that can reach up to 60 cm (24 in) in length. In the countries near the Mediterranean and Black Seas, it makes up a significant portion of fish catch, 54% of fish caught in the latter. Despite overfishing in the 1980s, catch numbers have leveled out and it is listed as least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Wikipedia contributors, Mediterranean horse mackerel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:05:25.651442+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Trachurus mediterraneus (Steindachner, 1868)
- Name authority
- (Steindachner, 1868)
- Common name
- Mediterranean horse mackerel
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Carangiformes
- Family
- Carangidae
- Genus
- Trachurus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderCarangiformes
- familyCarangidae Rafinesque, 1815
- genusTrachurus Rafinesque, 1810
- speciesTrachurus mediterraneus (Steindachner, 1868)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Trachurus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese horse mackerelTrachurus japonicus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1844) | CarangidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| rough scadTrachurus lathami Nichols, 1920 | CarangidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Crozet scadTrachurus longimanus (Norman, 1935) | CarangidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Chilean jack mackerelTrachurus murphyi Nichols, 1920 | CarangidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Trachurus novaezelandiae Richardson, 1843 | CarangidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| blue jack mackerelTrachurus picturatus (Bowdich, 1825) | CarangidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cunene horse mackerelTrachurus trecae Cadenat, 1950 | CarangidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cape horse mackerelTrachurus capensis Castelnau, 1861 | CarangidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| greenback horse mackerelTrachurus declivis (Jenyns, 1841) | CarangidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| African scadTrachurus delagoa Nekrasov, 1970 | CarangidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Arabian scadTrachurus indicus Nekrasov, 1966 | CarangidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pacific jack mackerelTrachurus symmetricus (Ayres, 1855) | CarangidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Trachurus mediterraneus ponticus Aleev, 1956 Aleev, 1956 | synonym |
| Suareus furnestini Dardignac & Vincent, 1958 Dardignac & Vincent, 1958 | synonym |
| Caranx trachurus mediterraneus Steindachner, 1868 Steindachner, 1868 | synonym |
| Trachurus mediterraneus mediterraneus (Steindachner, 1868) (Steindachner, 1868) | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=126820 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:57PKT. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.