Common names: mackerel (English), tuna (English), barrilete (Espanol)
 
Auxis rochei eudorax Collette & Aadland, 1996


Bullet mackerel,     Bullet tuna


Body elongate, rounded; no fatty eyelid; jaw teeth slender, conical; top of tongue with 2 ridges;  2 dorsal fins widely separated; 1st  dorsal IX-XI spines; ~ 8 finlets behind 2nd  dorsal fin, ~ 7 behind anal fin; a single-pointed long bony process between pelvic fins; pectoral fins short, not reaching a vertical line from anterior margin of scaleless area on back; 1 lateral line; 1 large + 2 small keels on tail base; a well developed corselet of scales on front of body, rear extension of corselet is wide (14-30 scale rows wide).


Back dark bluish; a patch of 15 or more fairly broad, nearly vertical dark bars in scaleless area above lateral line, patch starts behind 1st dorsal and pectoral fins, belly white.

Maximum size, 55 cm.

Inhabits coastal and oceanic waters, forming large schools.

Depth: 0-200 m.

Worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas; the subspecies A. rochei eudorax is restricted to the eastern Pacfic; from California to the lower Gulf of California to Peru and the offshore islands.