greenback horse mackerel
Trachurus declivis (Jenyns, 1841)
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.
A school of Jack Mackerel (Trachurus declivis). Fairy Bower, Manly, NSW157480768
Richard Ling · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The greenback horse mackerel or greenback scad (Trachurus declivis) is a species of jack in the family Carangidae, found around western and southern Australia, and around New Zealand, from the surface to depths of 460 m. Its length is up to 64 cm.
Its common name derives from the legend that other smaller species of fish could ride on its back over great distances. It is an important commercial fish and sports fishing quarry although it has strong tasting flesh.
Wikipedia contributors, Greenback horse mackerel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:59:30.727401+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Trachurus declivis (Jenyns, 1841)
- Name authority
- (Jenyns, 1841)
- Common name
- greenback 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 declivis (Jenyns, 1841)
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 |
| African scadTrachurus delagoa Nekrasov, 1970 | CarangidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Arabian scadTrachurus indicus Nekrasov, 1966 | CarangidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mediterranean horse mackerelTrachurus mediterraneus (Steindachner, 1868) | 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 |
|---|---|
| Caranx declivis Jenyns, 1841 Jenyns, 1841 | 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=273301 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.
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:7CLH3. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.