FishOccasional

Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel

Scomberomorus commerson

A silver torpedo out of the blue: the narrow-barred Spanish mackerel is a lightning-fast hunter that flashes past the reef wall in the blink of an eye.

Photo: iNaturalist – (c) Luis P. B., some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Luis P. B.

The narrow-barred Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson) is one of the largest mackerels of the Red Sea: a streamlined predator reaching a metre and a half, its silvery flanks marked with narrow, wavy vertical bars that grow more vivid when the fish is excited and hunting. One glance at the jaws full of pointed teeth and the crescent-shaped tail tells you everything – this fish was built for speed.

It is an open-water hunter, patrolling alone or in small groups along the current-swept sides of the reefs. Its main prey are the dense schools of sardines, silversides and fusiliers: the mackerel strikes from below in high-speed rushes, and often all you see of the attack is a silver cloud of baitfish exploding in every direction. Juveniles grow up in shallow coastal waters, while the adults belong firmly to the blue.

Around Hurghada it appears most often at the exposed corners of the outer reefs – Umm Gamar, Carless Reef and Abu Ramada – exactly where the baitfish schools gather. Encounters are typically brief: it arrives out of the blue water, cruises past the wall and is gone. That is why it pays to glance away from the reef into open water now and then on a drift dive – that big silver shadow is one of the finest rewards.

Did you know?

In a short sprint the Spanish mackerel ranks among the fastest fish on the reef: its attack run is so quick that the baitfish school often scatters only after the mackerel has already torn through it.

Where can you meet it?

Your best chances are along the blue-water side of the outer, current-swept reefs: it turns up from time to time at the corners of Umm Gamar and Carless Reef and on drift dives around Abu Ramada.

Frequently asked questions

No. Despite the pointed teeth, the mackerel is interested only in small schooling fish – at most it acknowledges a diver with one quick, curious pass before continuing its patrol in the blue.

Choose a dive on a current-swept outer reef and keep glancing away from the wall into open water – especially wherever sardine or silverside schools are swirling. Predators always patrol close to a laid table.