Skip to main content
Scomberomorus cavalla

Scomberomorus cavalla

9.9
A large sea fish with a long pointed nose that people eat and catch for sport
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : caballa real
  • The fisherman caught a large Scomberomorus cavalla during his trip off the coast of Florida.
  • king mackerel

Examples

  • King mackerel, Scomberomorus cavalla, is a coastal, pelagic scombrid found off the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts.

    Academic text (1994)
  • Species with the highest overall effort were, in descending order: snapper, grouper, amberjack, and king mackerel, Scomberomorus cavalla.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Scomberomorus cavalla.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Many restaurants feature Scomberomorus cavalla on their menus due to its delicious flavor.

  • Anglers often seek Scomberomorus cavalla for its challenging fight and tasty meat.

Synonyms

king mackerel
vsScomberomorus cavalla
  • Specialized
1 6.1

A large fish with a long pointed nose eaten as food and often caught for sport

is described as occurring along the eastern Atlantic coast rather than the western
cavalla
vsScomberomorus cavalla
  • US
9.9

A large mackerel-like fish with a long pointed snout eaten and caught for sport along the Atlantic coast

is the scientific name used for the same species

Surface Forms

Morphology

Scomberomorus + cavalla

This is a literal scientific binomial combining a genus name and a species epithet; given the provided constituent meanings ('Scomberomorus' = a genus of fish, 'cavalla' = a large mackerel), a learner can derive that it denotes a particular species of mackerel. The name is taxonomic and compositional rather than idiomatic, so its meaning is transparently built from its parts.

Etymology

Scomberomorus cavalla comes from old words for 'mackerel'. The parts Scomber (a word for mackerel) and cavalla (like the Spanish 'caballa', also meaning 'mackerel') point to this fish being a large, well-known mackerel that people catch and eat.