Systematics of the tunas and mackerels (Scombridae)

Publisher Summary This chapter elaborates the systematics of tunas and mackerels (Scombridae). The Scombridae is a family of 1.5 genera and about 50 species of epipelagic marine fishes. They possess many morphological and physiological adaptations that are of great interest to physiologists and evolutionary biologists. Mackerels, Spanish mackerels, bonitos, and tunas form the basis of important commercial and recreational fisheries throughout the tropical and temperate waters of the world. The subfamily Scombrinae is composed of two groups of two tribes. The more primitive mackerels (Scombrini) and Spanish mackerels (Scomberomorini) have a distinct notch in the hypural plate, lack any bony support for the median fleshy caudal peduncle keels, and do not have the penultimate vertebral centra greatly shortened. Scomber japonicus has been considered the most widespread species in the genus, sympatric with S. scombrus in the North Atlantic and with S. australasicus in the northwestern Pacific. Host–parasite relationships of parasitic copepods have been utilized to provide an independent assessment of the relationships of Spanish mackerels of the S. regalis species group.