Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) >
Perciformes (Perch-likes) >
Scombridae (Mackerels, tunas, bonitos) > Scombrinae
Etymology: Sarda: Latin and Greek, sarda = sardine; name related to the island of Sardinia (Ref. 45335).
Environment / Climate / Range
Ecology
Marine; brackish; pelagic-neritic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 80 - 200 m (Ref. 5377). Subtropical; 12°C - 27°C (Ref. 168), preferred 24°C (Ref. 107945); 62°N - 40°S, 98°W - 42°E (Ref. 54865)
Eastern Atlantic: Oslo, Norway to Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Also known from the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Western Atlantic: Nova Scotia, Canada to Florida, USA and northern Gulf of Mexico; then from Colombia, Venezuela, and south of the Amazon River to northern Argentina; apparently absent from most of the Caribbean Sea.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 37.0, range 41 - ? cm
Max length : 91.4 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 168); common length : 50.0 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 168); max. published weight: 11.0 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 5 years (Ref. 29114)
Dorsal
spines
(total): 20 - 23;
Dorsal
soft rays
(total): 15-18;
Anal
spines: 0;
Anal
soft rays: 14 - 17;
Vertebrae: 50 - 55. Mouth moderately large. Laminae of olfactory rosette 21-39. Interpelvic process small and bifid. Body completely covered with very small scales posterior to the corselet. Swim bladder absent. Spleen large. Liver with elongate left and right lobe and short middle lobe. Oblique dorsal stripes with a greater angle than in other species of Sarda.
Epipelagic, neritic and schooling species that may enter estuaries. Known to be cannibalistic, adults prey on small schooling fishes, invertebrates like squid and shrimps and can swallow relatively large prey. Eggs and larvae pelagic (Ref. 6769). Utilized fresh, dried or salted, smoked, canned and frozen (Ref. 9987). Able to adapt to different temperatures 12° to 27°C and salinities 14 to 39 (Ref. 36731).
Collette, B.B. and C.E. Nauen, 1983. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 2. Scombrids of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of tunas, mackerels, bonitos and related species known to date. Rome: FAO. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(2):137 p. (Ref. 168)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)
CITES (Ref. 94142)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 30303)
Human uses
Fisheries: highly commercial; gamefish: yes
Tools
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Estimates of some properties based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82805): PD
50 = 0.5312 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00741 (0.00631 - 0.00871), b=3.07 (3.03 - 3.11), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref.
93245).
Trophic Level (Ref.
69278): 4.5 ±0.0 se; Based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref.
69278): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.13-0.24; tm=1; tmax=5).
Prior r = 1.62, 2 SD range = 0.84 - 3.11, log(r) = 0.48, SD log(r) = 0.33, Based on: 1 M, 13 K, 4 tgen, 4 tmax, records
Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low to moderate vulnerability (33 of 100) .
