jack mackerel

noun

: any of several medium to large food and sport fishes (genus Trachurus): such as

a

: a fish of the northern Pacific Ocean (Trachurus symmetricus) that is iridescent green or bluish above and silvery below

b

: a fish of the southern Pacific Ocean (Trachurus murphyi) that was formerly considered a subspecies (T. symmetricus murphyi) of the northern Pacific jack mackerel

c

: a fish (Trachurus novaezelandiae) of Australian and New Zealand waters that has a yellow tail fin

Examples of jack mackerel in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Many of these are important fishery species, such as jack mackerel and swordfish, while others are rare and cannot be found elsewhere in the ocean. —Priya Shukla, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2024

In the northern Pacific, for example, the preferred habitat of two commercial species, jack mackerel and canary rockfish, could nearly double in size. —David Malakoff, Science | AAAS, 16 May 2018

In their place were warmer water fish like jack mackerel and pompano, and a small plankton-eating creature called a pyrozome. —Bill Monroe, OregonLive.com, 17 Oct. 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1882, in the meaning defined above