Atlantic horse mackerel, Trachurus trachurus
Coloured pencil on paper
Artist: Moritz Weber (top) Rachael Hamilton (bottom)
The Atlantic horse mackerel is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean off Europe and Africa and into the south-eastern Indian Ocean. It is an important species in commercial fisheries and is listed as a Vulnerable species on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, mainly due to its poor state off the cost of East Africa. The common name horse mackerel has been said to derive from the belief that other fishes rode on its back but, more likely, it derives from the old Dutch word Horsmakreel which means a mackerel which spawns over a shallow or bank, a hors, and this was taken into English as “horse mackerel”.
Framed Fish Project 