Osteology and Muscular Attachments of the Japanese Jack Mackerel, Trachurus Japonicus

Detailed descriptions of the osteology, myology and arthrology of the Japanese jack mackerel Trachurus japonicus are presented. Several new characters of the family Carangidae identified are: fine ridges on the neural and hemal spines, branching of the lateral line scale canal, placement of the first hemal spine and the first anal proximal radial, presence of the anterior neural subzygapophyses, lateral keel on the fourth preural vertebra, and the arrangement of the ridges on the scales. Among these, fine ridges on the neural and hemal spines, plus the arrangements of ridges on the scales are considered to be important characters for future phylogenetic analyses of the Carangidae.