Scomber colias (Gmelin, 1789) 4 – Chub mackerel, ϗολιός The maximum length for chub mackerel is 64 cm and its maximum weight is 2.9 kg, while commonly they may be about 30 cm long (Froese & Pauly 2019). In the Aegean Sea, these sizes appear to be considerably lower (Papanastasiou 1976: 508). Chub mackerel are found both in the Aegean and in the Southern Black Sea (Hernández & Ortega 2000: 9). They school with other pelagic fish such as other members of their genus or sardines (Froese & Pauli 2019). Adults stay near the seafloor during the day and ascend to the surface at night; thus, they are often caught at nighttime, attracted by lights. In the Aegean, they approach the coast in summer. Schools comprise fish of similar size; those of adults are more compact and structured (Collette & Nauen 1983). Spawning season is in summer. In the Black Sea, spawning is reported to take place from June to August, and in the Sea of Marmara from May to July (Hernández & Ortega 2000: 13, table 3, with references).

Published as part of Mylona, Dimitra, 2021, Catching tuna in the Aegean: biological background of tuna fisheries and the archaeological implications, pp. 23-37 in Anthropozoologica 56 (2) on page 29, DOI: 10.5252/anthropozoologica2021v56a2, http://zenodo.org/record/4486342