King Mackerel (Scomberomorous cavalla)
Family Scombridae, Mackerels and Tunas
Description: color of back iridescent bluish green, sides silvery; streamlined body with tapered head; no black pigment on front of the first dorsal fin; lateral line starts high and drops sharply below the second dorsal fin; young fish often have yellowish spots like those of Spanish mackerel.
Similar fish: cero, S. regalis; spanish mackerel, S. maculatus.
Where found: NEARSHORE and OFFSHORE; occasionally taken from piers and running into deep water.
Size: common to 20 pounds.
Remarks: schooling fish that migrates from south Florida waters in winter to more northerly waters in spring; Gulf population thought to be separate from Atlantic population, with considerable mixing in winter from Cape Canaveral past Key West; spawns in midsummer OFFSHORE; feeds on small fish and squid.
