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Thunnus albacares

Yellowfin Tuna
SGCN NS GNR NS SNR
Collection Details

Specimens

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Taxonomic Hierarchy

Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes) Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri) Scombridae (Mackerels) Thunnus Thunnus albacares (Yellowfin Tuna)

Description

This species account was compiled from Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.) and processed using AI-assisted text extraction. It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting. When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page. Learn more about our species accounts.

Characters

Narrowly separated dorsal fins, moderately long pectoral fins, poorly developed corselet of scales on anterior section of body; snout acute and conical; jaw teeth small, conical, and uniserial; gill rakers on first arch 26-34 (usually 27 or more); pectoral fin falcate, extends beyond anal fin origin, 30-36 rays; first dorsal fin high anteriorly, concave margin, 13 or 14 spines; second dorsal fin falcate, 12-16 rays, followed by 7-10 finlets; anal fin similar to second dorsal fin, 11-16 rays, followed by 7-10 finlets; caudal peduncle with long midlateral keel between two shorter oblique keels; body covered with small scales; vertebrae 39; gas bladder present; liver in ventral view lacks striations, right lobe largest.
Metallic dark blue dorsally, whitish on side and ventrally; belly often patterned with about 20 broken, strongly oblique to vertical lines; dorsal and anal fins bright yellow; finlets bright yellow with black margins.

Distribution

Nova Scotia and Bermuda to southern Brazil, including the entire Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Greater and Lesser Antilles.

Habitat Associations

Epipelagic in oceanic regions with temperatures between 18°C and 31°C, above and below the thermocline.

Biology

Cephalopods, pelagic crustaceans, and ray-finned fishes.
Over 200 cm FL.
Spawning takes place between May and September.
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). Caught mainly with longlines and purse seines. Marketed mainly fresh, frozen, canned (Ref. 9684), but also smoked (Ref. 9987). Highly valued for sashimi (Ref. 26938).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2021-01-15. Resilience: Medium (K=0.13-0.42; tm=2-5; tmax=8; Fec=200,000).

Commercial or Environmental Importance

Fisheries: highly commercial; gamefish; aquaculture: experimental.

References

Gibbs and Collette 1967
Hoese and Moore 1977
Hoese and Moore 1998
Collette 1986b
Collette 2001e
Collette 2002g
Collette and Nauen 1983
Robins and Ray 1986
Scott and Scott 1988
Boschung 1992
Schaldach et al. 1997
Smith 1997
Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999
Collette, B.B. and C.E. Nauen (1983) FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 2. Scombrids of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of tunas, mackerels, bonitos and related species known to date. Rome: FAO. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(2):137 p.
Kailola, P.J., M.J. Williams, P.C. Stewart, R.E. Reichelt, A. McNee and C. Grieve (1993) Australian fisheries resources. Bureau of Resource Sciences, Canberra, Australia. 422 p.
Collette, B.B. (2001) Scombridae. Tunas (also, albacore, bonitos, mackerels, seerfishes, and wahoo). p. 3721-3756. In K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. Vol. 6. Bony fishes part 4 (Labridae to Latimeriidae), estuarine crocodiles. FAO, Rome.
Maldeniya, R. (1996) Food consumption of yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares, in Sri Lankan waters. Environ. Biol. Fishes 47:101-107.
IGFA (2001) Database of IGFA angling records until 2001. IGFA, Fort Lauderdale, USA.

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