Indo-Pacific king mackerel | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Perciformes |
Family: | Scombridae |
Genus: | Scomberomorus |
Species: | S. guttatus |
Binomial name | |
Scomberomorus guttatus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) |
Indo-Pacific king mackerel or popularly (spotted) seer fish (Scomberomorus guttatus) is a sea fish among the mackerel variety of fishes. It is found in around the Indian Ocean and adjoining seas. It is known by various names, such as surmai (سرمئ) in Urdu and "surmai" (सुरमई) in Marathi, vanjaram (వంజరం) in Telugu,vanjaram or neimeen (நெய்மீன்) in Tamil, ayakkoora or neimeen (നെയ്മീന്) in Malayalam, anjal (ಅಂಜಲ್) in Tulu, arkoli (ಅರ್ಕೊಲಿ) in Kannada, iswaan or viswan (विस्वण) in Konkani, iswan in Nawaythy thora in Sinhala and plā xinthrī (ปลาอินทรี) in Thai.
It is a popular game fish, growing up to 45 kg (100 lb), and is a strong fighter that has on occasion been seen to leap out of the water when hooked. It is excellent tablefare and is primarily caught by sportfishers trolling with plugs (Rapala or Stretch 25+, 30+) or feathers/jigs, and on 30 lbf (130 N) tackle it is extremely sporting. At times it is possible to catch more than one by casting silver spoons or pirks when one is hooked while trolling.
It is very popular among the countries of the Indian subcontinent including Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It is a fairly expensive fish that is considered a delicacy in most places. In addition to being cooked and eaten when fresh, it is also used to make fish pickle, usually eaten as a condiment with rice.