Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson) is a saltwater species recorded in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia. It is mainly found over reef, at depths of 10–70 m. The main season in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia runs spring, autumn, winter.
Scientific name: Scomberomorus commerson · Water: Saltwater · Season: Spring, Autumn, Winter · Also known as: Narrow-barred Spanish Mackerel (Tenggiri)
Size: up to 245 cm
Weight: up to 44.9 kg
The narrow-barred Spanish mackerel is a scombrid, a fast predatory fish and an important high-value food fish; a large one taken from a boat is a real challenge. Its range is the Indo-West Pacific, from the Red Sea and South Africa through South-East Asia, north to China and Japan and south to south-eastern Australia and Fiji; it also occurs at St. Helena in the south-east Atlantic and has entered the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal.
The narrow-barred Spanish mackerel works the edge of the continental shelf and shallow coastal water, often where salinity is low and the water turbid, and it also turns up around drop-offs, reef slopes and lagoons. It feeds mostly on small fish such as anchovies, herrings and trevallies, along with squid and penaeid prawns, and usually hunts alone. Both eggs and larvae drift in the water column. Drift gill nets, bamboo stake traps, midwater trawls and trolling take most of the commercial catch, which is sold fresh and also dried and salted, made into fish balls, frozen, smoked or canned. Fish gather on reef slopes and edges to spawn.
Caution: large individuals carry a ciguatera risk. Heat, cold and marinating do not remove the toxin, which concentrates in the liver, roe and head, so avoid eating those parts. Seek medical help if numbness, tingling or a reversed sense of hot and cold follows a meal.
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