Ju·rel n. Zool. A yellow carangoid fish of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts (Caranx chrysos), most abundant southward, where it is valued as a food fish; -- called also hardtail, horse crevallé, jack, buffalo jack, skipjack, yellow mackerel, and sometimes, improperly, horse mackerel. Other species of Caranx (as Caranx fallax) are also sometimes called jurel.

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 Mack·er·el n.  Zool. Any species of the genus Scomber of the family Scombridae, and of several related genera.  They are finely formed and very active oceanic fishes.  Most of them are highly prized for food.
 Note: ☞ The common mackerel (Scomber scombrus), which inhabits both sides of the North Atlantic, is one of the most important food fishes.  It is mottled with green and blue.  The Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus), of the American coast, is covered with bright yellow circular spots.
 Bull mackerel, Chub mackerel. Zool. See under Chub.
 Frigate mackerel. See under Frigate.
 Horse mackerel . See under Horse.
 Mackerel bird Zool., the wryneck; -- so called because it arrives in England at the time when mackerel are in season.
 Mackerel cock Zool., the Manx shearwater; -- so called because it precedes the appearance of the mackerel on the east coast of Ireland.
 Mackerel guide. Zool. See Garfish (a).
 Mackerel gull Zool. any one of several species of gull which feed upon or follow mackerel, as the kittiwake.
 Mackerel midge Zool., a very small oceanic gadoid fish of the North Atlantic.  It is about an inch and a half long and has four barbels on the upper jaw.  It is now considered the young of the genus Onos, or Motella.
 Mackerel plow, an instrument for creasing the sides of lean mackerel to improve their appearance. --Knight.
 Mackerel shark Zool., the porbeagle.
 Mackerel sky, or Mackerel-back sky, a sky flecked with small white clouds; a cirro-cumulus. See Cloud.
 Mackerel sky and mare's-tails
 Make tall ships carry low sails.   --Old Rhyme.

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 Sau·rel n. Zool. Any carangoid fish of the genus Trachurus, especially Trachurus trachurus, or Trachurus saurus, of Europe and America, and Trachurus picturatus of California. Called also skipjack, and horse mackerel.

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 Tu·na, n.
 1. Zool. Any one of several species of large oceanic fishes belonging to the mackerel family Scombridae, especially the bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus, formerly Orcynus thynnus or  Albacora thynnus), called also the common tunny or great tunny, a native of the Mediterranean Sea and of temperate parts of the Atlantic Ocean.  It sometimes weighs a thousand pounds or more, and is caught commercially in large quantity for use as food; -- also called, especially in Britain, tunny.  It is also one of the favorite fishes used by the Japanese in preparing sushi.  On the American coast, especially in New England, it is sometimes called the horse mackerel.  Another well-known species is the yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) of warm seas. the See Illust. of Horse mackerel, under Horse.
 Note: The little tunny (Gymnosarda alletterata) of the Mediterranean and North Atlantic, and the long-finned tunny, or albacore (Thunnus alalunga) (see Albacore), are related species of smaller size.
 2. The bonito, 2.

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 Tun·ny n.; pl. Tunnies   Zool. The chiefly British equivalent of tuna; any one of several species of large oceanic fishes belonging to the Mackerel family, especially the common or great tunny (Thunnus thynnus syn. Albacora thynnus, formerly Orcynus thynnus) native of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.  It sometimes weighs a thousand pounds or more, and is extensively caught in the Mediterranean.  On the American coast it is called horse mackerel. See Illust. of Horse mackerel, under Horse. [Written also thynny.]
 Note: ☞ The little tunny (Gymnosarda alletterata) of the Mediterranean and North Atlantic, and the long-finned tunny, or albicore (Thunnus alalunga, see Albacore), are related species of smaller size.

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 Al·ba·core n. Zool. A name applied to several large fishes of the Mackerel family (Scombridae), esp. Thunnus alalunga (formerly Orcynus alalonga); it is a type of tuna or tunny.  The name has been also applied to a larger related species, Thunnus thynnus (formerly Orcynus thynnus), common in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, which is called in New England the horse mackerel. [formerly spelled albicore.]

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 Blue·fish n. Zool.
 1. A large voracious fish (Pomatomus saitatrix), of the family Carangidæ, valued as a food fish, and widely distributed on the American coast. On the New Jersey and Rhode Island coast it is called the horse mackerel, in Virginia saltwater tailor, or skipjack.
 2. A West Indian fish (Platyglossus radiatus), of the family Labridæ.
 Note: ☞ The name is applied locally to other species of fishes; as the cunner, sea bass, squeteague, etc.

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 horse mackerel
      n 1: largest tuna; to 1500 pounds; of mostly temperate seas: feed
           in polar regions but breed in tropics [syn: bluefin, {bluefin
           tuna, Thunnus thynnus]
      2: large elongated compressed food fish of the Atlantic waters
         of Europe [syn: saurel, Trachurus trachurus]
      3: a California food fish [syn: jack mackerel, {Spanish
         mackerel, saurel, Trachurus symmetricus]