Despite overfishing in the 1980s, catch numbers have leveled out and it is listed as least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The Mediterranean horse mackerel was first described in 1868 by Austrian ichthyologist, zoologist, and herpetologist Franz Steindachner, who gave it the name Caranx trachurus mediterraneus.

[2] T. m. ponticus is found in the territorial waters of every country bordering the Black Sea: Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine.

[9] Sexual maturity is reached at 2 years of age and around 16 cm (6.3 in) in length for both males and females.

Fixed nets and seines are common methods used to catch Mediterranean horse mackerel.

Because it forms dense schools and lives in shallower waters, the Mediterranean horse mackerel is the more commonly caught species.

[9] Despite being regularly caught in mixed-species fisheries, the Mediterranean horse mackerel is listed as least concern by the IUCN.

Its wide range buffers it from steep population declines, and none has been observed in recent years, with catches leveling out in the past decade.

Overfishing in the 1980s led to a steep decline in catches in the Black and Marmara Seas, but has since become stable.