Blue Mackerel, Scomber australasicus

Plate 28. The Southern Mackerel, Scomber pneumatophorus (now known as Blue Mackerel, Scomber australasicus) found in Hobson's Bay

I cannot find the slightest difference between our Hobson's Bay and Mediterranean specimens on comparison. The speckling of the lower part of the sides and belly is, when alive, like that of the Spanish Mackerel (S. colias), but when preserved for some time in spirit there disappear, leaving the belly and lower part of sides plain silvery, as described in the Scomber Australasicus of Cuvier and Val., the claims of which to rank as a distinct species seems to me very doubtful. The eyelids leave the middle third of the eye bare. The preoperculum is radiatingly striated and of yellowish-bronzy tint.

This beautiful fish occurs rarely in Hobson's Bay, generally in the month of June, and in considerable numbers when it does appear.