Both names are attributed to Peter Simon Pallas, who published his description of the fish in 1810, roughly a year before his death.

[8] Found exclusively in the northern Pacific, Atka mackerel are known from the Sea of Japan and the waters off Hokkaido, as well as the southern Kuril Islands, and from Stalemate and Bowers Bank in the Aleutian chain to Icy bay, Alaska.

[8] Atka mackerel can generally be found from the intertidal zone to depths up to 575 metres (1,886 ft).

They are, in turn, preyed upon by several species such as bony fishes, (coho salmon, sablefish, Polypera simushirae, Pacific cod, Pacific halibut, and Arrowtooth flounder) mammals (Steller's sea lion), birds (Thick-billed murre), and rays (the Aleutian skate, White-blotched skate, and the Alaska skate) and an important food source for birds, other fish and mammals.

When first hooked they would come up very readily, in fact they seemed to swim upward until near the surface when they would become alarmed and dart back and forth in their efforts to free themselves.