|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
mackerel
mackerel common name for members of the family Scombridae, 60 species of open-sea fishes, including the albacore, bonito, and tuna . They are characterized by deeply forked tails that narrow greatly where they join the body; small finlets behind both the dorsal and the anal fins; and sleek, streamlined bodies with smooth, almost scaleless skins having an iridescent sheen. All members of the mackerel family are superb, swift swimmers. The firm, oily texture of their powerful muscles and their generally large size make them of great commercial importance as food fish. They travel in schools, feeding on other fish (chiefly herring ) and on squid, and migrate between deep and shallow waters. The smaller species rely on the constant rush of water through their gills for sufficient oxygen and will suffocate if motionless. The largest of the family, the enormous (up to 3/4 ton/680 kg) tunas, are among the few warm-blooded fishes, due to the constant operation of their huge banks of muscles. Of the smaller members of the family, the Atlantic, or common, mackerel, Scomber scombrus, found in colder waters off North America and Europe, is one of the smallest (1 1/2 lb/0.675 kg average). Despite its size, the annual catch is 50 million lb (22.5 million kg), which is marketed fresh, salted, and canned. Intermediate between the Atlantic mackerel and the bonitos (see tuna ) are the frigate mackerels, found in warm seas. Spotted species found off the Florida and Gulf coasts include the Spanish, painted, and Sierra mackerels, averaging 10 to 15 lb (4.5–6.7 kg). Other species are the king mackerel, also called kingfish and cero (up to 60 lb/27 kg); the chub mackerel, similar to the Atlantic mackerel; and the cosmopolitan and more solitary wahoo, or peto. Related to the mackerels are the escolars and rabbit fishes of Mediterranean and Cuban waters and the cutlass, or scabbard, fish, a degenerate eellike offshoot of the mackerels, found off the coast of Florida. Mackerels are classified in the phylum Chordata , subphylum Vertebrata, class Osteichthyes, order Perciformes, family Scombridae. |
|
|
Cite this article
"mackerel." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "mackerel." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-mackerel.html "mackerel." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-mackerel.html |
|
mackerel
mackerel mackerel sky a sky dappled with rows of small white fleecy (typically cirrocumulus) clouds, like the pattern on a mackerel's back, recorded from the mid 17th century. It is traditionally believed to herald a change in the weather, as noted in the weather rhyme: ‘Mackerel sky, mackerel sky, Never long wet, never long dry.’
See also a sprat to catch a mackerel. |
|
|
Cite this article
ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "mackerel." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "mackerel." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-mackerel.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "mackerel." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-mackerel.html |
|
mackerel
mack·er·el / ˈmak(ə)rəl/ • n. (pl. same or mackerels ) a migratory surface-dwelling predatory fish. The mackerel family (Scombridae) includes many species, in particular the North Atlantic mackerel (S. scombrus), commercially important as a food fish. |
|
|
Cite this article
"mackerel." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "mackerel." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-mackerel.html "mackerel." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-mackerel.html |
|
mackerel
mackerel Fast-swimming, agile, marine food fish related to the tunny, found in n Atlantic, n Pacific and Indian oceans. They have streamlined bodies and powerful tails. The body colour is silvery blue with dark side bars. It feeds on smaller fish and plankton. Length: 61cm (2ft). Family Scombridae.
|
|
|
Cite this article
"mackerel." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "mackerel." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-mackerel.html "mackerel." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-mackerel.html |
|
mackerel
|
|
|
Cite this article
DAVID A. BENDER. "mackerel." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. DAVID A. BENDER. "mackerel." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-mackerel.html DAVID A. BENDER. "mackerel." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-mackerel.html |
|
mackerel
mackerel XIII. — AN. makerel, OF. maquerel (mod. maquereau), medL. macarellus; of unkn. orig. See -REL.
|
|
|
Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "mackerel." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "mackerel." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-mackerel.html T. F. HOAD. "mackerel." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-mackerel.html |
|
mackerel
mackerel See SCOMBRIDAE.
|
|
|
Cite this article
MICHAEL ALLABY. "mackerel." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL ALLABY. "mackerel." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-mackerel.html MICHAEL ALLABY. "mackerel." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-mackerel.html |
|
mackerel
mackerel •apparel, barrel, carol, Carole, carrel, Carroll, Darrell, Darryl, Farrell
•gambrel • spandrel
•astral, plastral
•cracker-barrel
•Errol, feral
•petrel, petrol
•spectral
•central, epicentral, ventral
•ancestral, kestrel, orchestral
•dextral • Sacheverell • mayoral
•sacral • wastrel • cerebral
•anhedral, cathedral, dihedral, tetrahedral
•hypaethral (US hypethral), urethral
•squirrel, Tyrol, Wirral
•timbrel, whimbrel
•minstrel • arbitral • sinistral • integral
•triumviral
•spiral, viral
•amoral, Balmoral, coral, immoral, laurel, moral, quarrel, sorel, sorrel
•cockerel, Cockerell
•dotterel • rostral
•aboral, aural, choral, floral, goral, oral
•austral, claustral
•scoundrel • cloistral • neutral • figural
•augural
•demurral, Durrell
•mongrel • sepulchral • lustral
•spheral • retiral
•crural, jural, mural, neural, plural, rural
•illiberal, liberal
•natural • federal • peripheral
•doggerel • mackerel • pickerel
•bicameral, unicameral
•admiral
•ephemeral, femoral
•humeral, numeral
•general • mineral • funeral
•spatio-temporal, temporal
•corporal • tesseral • visceral
•bilateral, collateral, equilateral, lateral, multilateral, quadrilateral, trilateral, unilateral
•pastoral
•electoral, pectoral, prefectoral, protectoral
•clitoral, literal, littoral, presbyteral
•dipteral, peripteral
•doctoral • several • behavioural
•conferral, deferral, referral, transferral
|
|
|
Cite this article
"mackerel." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "mackerel." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-mackerel.html "mackerel." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-mackerel.html |
|
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
