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Thunnus albacares  (Bonnaterre, 1788)

Yellowfin tuna
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Thunnus albacares
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United States (contiguous states) country information

Common names: Ahi, Allison tuna, Kahauli
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: commercial | Ref: FAO, 1992
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Also Ref. 9987.
National Checklist:
Country Information: httpss://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: https://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Collette, B.B. and C.E. Nauen, 1983
National Database:

Classification / Names

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Perciformes (Perch-likes) > Scombridae (Mackerels, tunas, bonitos) > Scombrinae
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Common names from other countries

Тунец желтоперый, Albacore, Rabil, ... more

Main reference

Collette, B.B. and C.E. Nauen. 1983. (Ref. 168)
 References | Biblio | Coordinator : Collette, Bruce B. | Collaborators

Size / Weight / Age

Max length : 239 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); common length : 150 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 168); max. published weight: 200.0 kg (Ref. 26550); max. reported age: 9 years (Ref. 72462)

Length at first maturity
 Lm 103.3, range 78 - 158 cm

Environment

Marine; brackish; pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 1 - 250 m (Ref. 6390), usually 1 - 100 m (Ref. 55289)

Climate / Range

Tropical; 15°C - 31°C (Ref. 168), preferred 28°C (Ref. 107945); 59°N - 48°S, 180°W - 180°E

Distribution

Worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas, but absent from the Mediterranean Sea. Highly migratory species, Annex I of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea (Ref. 26139).
 Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Short description

Dorsal spines (total): 11 - 14; Dorsal soft rays (total): 12-16; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 11 - 16; Vertebrae: 39. Fish with very long second dorsal fin and anal fin, which in some may reach well over 20% of the FL. The pectoral fin is moderately long, usually reaching beyond the second dorsal fin origin but not beyond the end of its base. Color is black metallic dark blue changing through yellow to silver on the belly. The belly frequently has about 20 broken, nearly vertical lines. The dorsal and anal fins and finlets are bright yellow.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

An oceanic species occurring above and below the thermoclines. Pelagic in open water , but rarely seen near reefs (Ref. 48637). They school primarily by size, either in monospecific or multi-species groups. Larger fish frequently school with porpoises, also associated with floating debris and other objects. Feed on fishes, crustaceans and squids. It is sensitive to low concentrations of oxygen and therefore is not usually caught below 250 m in the tropics (Ref. 28952, 30329). Peak spawning occurs during the summer, in batches (Ref. 9684, 51846). Eggs and larvae are pelagic (Ref. 6769). Encircling nets are employed to catch schools near the surface (Ref. 9340). Marketed mainly frozen and canned (Ref. 9684), but also fresh (Ref. 9340) and smoked (Ref. 9987). Highly valued for sashimi (Ref. 26938).

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

  Near Threatened (NT) 

Threat to humans

  Harmless



Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; aquaculture: experimental; gamefish: yes

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Identification keys | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

BHL | BOLDSystems | Check for other websites | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO(Aquaculture: production; fisheries: production, species profile; publication : search) | FIRMS (Stock assessments) | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | iSpecies | National databases | Public aquariums | PubMed | RFE Identification | Scirus | Sea Around Us | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | uBio | uBio RSS | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record | Fishtrace

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805)
 PD50 = 0.5039 many relatives (e.g. carps) 0.5 - 2.0 few relatives (e.g. lungfishes)

Trophic Level (Ref. 69278)
 4.4   ±0.4 se; Based on diet studies.

Resilience (Ref. 69278)
 Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.13-0.42; tm=2-5; tmax=8; Fec=200,000)

Vulnerability (Ref. 59153)
 Moderate to high vulnerability (46 of 100)
Price category (Ref. 80766)
 High