Thunnus albacares  (Bonnaterre, 1788)

Yellowfin tuna
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Image of Thunnus albacares (Yellowfin tuna)
Thunnus albacares
Picture by Archambault, C.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Perciformes (Perch-likes) > Scombridae (Mackerels, tunas, bonitos) > Scombrinae
Etymology: Thunnus: Greek, thynnos = tunna (Ref. 45335).

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; brackish; pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 1 - 250 m (Ref. 6390), usually 1 - 100 m (Ref. 55289).   Tropical; 15°C - 31°C (Ref. 168); 52°N - 45°S, 180°W - 180°E

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 107.5, range 101 - ? cm
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)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

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.

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions | Faunafri

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).

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).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Collette, Bruce B. | Collaborators

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.

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)

  Near Threatened (NT) 

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO(Aquaculture: production; fisheries: production, species profile; publication : search) | FIRMS (Stock assessments) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | iSpecies | National databases | OsteoBase(skull, spine) | Public aquariums | PubMed | RFE Identification | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | uBio | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on empirical models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.5039   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01501 (-0.03650 - 0.06652), b=3.02 (3.00 - 3.04), based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  4.3   ±0.7 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.