Jack mackerels or saurels are marine fish in the genus Trachurus of the family Carangidae. The name of the genus derives from the Greek words trachys ("rough") and oura ("tail"). Some species, such as T. murphyi, are harvested in purse seine nets, and overfishing (harvesting beyond sustainable levels) has sometimes occurred.[1]
It is often used in Japanese cuisine, where it is called aji, in Turkish cuisine, where it is called istavrit, and in Portuguese Cuisine, where it is called carapau.
thumb|right|250px|Japanese breakfast with grilled horse mackerel
The genus Trachurus was defined in 1810 by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz, who called the type species Trachurus saurus. Taxonomists later determined that T. saurus was in fact the same species as one described earlier as Scomber trachurus, defined in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus. Under the rules of binomial nomenclature, that species is now known as Trachurus trachurus, commonly known as the Atlantic horse mackerel.
The currently recognized species in this genus are:
| Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trachurus capensis Castelnau, 1861 | Cape horse mackerel | southeastern Atlantic from the Gulf of Guinea to eastern South Africa. | |
| Trachurus declivis (Jenyns, 1841) | greenback horse mackerel | western and southern Australia, and around New Zealand | |
| Trachurus delagoa Nekrasov, 1970 | African scad | south western Indian Ocean. | |
| Trachurus indicus Nekrasov, 1966 | Arabian scad | Red Sea and Somalia through the Persian Gulf east as far as Pakistan and south to the Saya de Malha Bank. | |
| Trachurus japonicus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1844) | Japanese jack mackerel | Japan, apart from Okinawa Island | |
| Trachurus lathami Nichols, 1920 | rough scad | eastern coasts of North and South America and the Gulf of Mexico | |
| Trachurus longimanus (Norman, 1935) | Crozet scad | east Atlantic and south western Indian Oceans | |
| Trachurus mediterraneus (Steindachner, 1868) | Mediterranean horse mackerel | eastern Atlantic from Bay of Biscay to Mauritania, including the Mediterranean Sea. | |
| Trachurus murphyi Nichols, 1920 | Chilean jack mackerel | south Pacific off the coasts of Chile and Peru, around New Zealand and south Australia, and in a band across the open ocean in between | |
| Trachurus novaezelandiae J. Richardson, 1843 | yellowtail horse mackerel | Australia and New Zealand | |
| Trachurus picturatus (S. Bowdich, 1825) | blue jack mackerel | the Bay of Biscay to south Morocco and the western Mediterranean. | |
| Trachurus symmetricus (Ayres, 1855) | Pacific jack mackerel | western coast of North America, ranging from Alaska in the north to the Gulf of California in the south | |
| Trachurus trachurus (Linnaeus, 1758) | Atlantic horse mackerel | eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. | |
| Trachurus trecae Cadenat, 1950 | Cunene horse mackerel | eastern Atlantic from Morocco south to Angola | |