New Zealand country information

Common names: Bluefin tuna, Southern bluefin tuna, Tunny
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: commercial | Ref: Armitage, R.O., D.A. Payne, G.J. Lockley, H.M. Currie, R.L. Colban, B.G. Lamb and L.J. Paul (eds.), 1994
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Main fishing season is from February to October to the east of New Zealand, between 35°S and 50°S where Japanese longliners have operated since the late 1960's (Ref. 9258). A New Zealand fishery operates off the west coast of the South Island between July and October (Ref. 9258). Voucher specimen(s) held at the NMNZ. Also Ref. 168, 89192.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/nz.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.fish.govt.nz/
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Paulin, C., A. Stewart, C. Roberts and P. McMillan, 1989
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Thon rouge du sud, Atún rojo del Sur, Southern bluefin, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Scombriformes (Mackerels) > Scombridae (Mackerels, tunas, bonitos) > Scombrinae
Etymology: Thunnus: Greek, thynnos = tunna (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Castelnau.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 50 - 2743 m (Ref. 57178). Temperate; 5°C - 20°C (Ref. 168); 10°S - 60°S, 180°W - 180°E (Ref. 54921)

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

Atlantic, Indian and Pacific: temperate and cold seas, mainly between 30°S and 50°S, to nearly 60°S. During spawning, large fish migrate to tropical seas, off the west coast of Australia, up to 10°S. Highly migratory species. If the current exploitation continues, the population will be below 500 mature individuals in 100 years (Ref. 27905).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m 122.0, range 120 - 130 cm
Max length : 245 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5203); common length : 160 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9684); max. published weight: 260.0 kg (Ref. 5203); max. reported age: 20 years (Ref. 168)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Vertebrae: 39. A very large species, deepest near the middle of the first dorsal fin base. Swim bladder present. Lower sides and belly silvery white with colorless transverse lines alternating with rows of colorless dots. The first dorsal fin is yellow or bluish; the anal fin and finlets are dusky yellow edged with black; the median caudal keel is yellow in adults.

By maturity, most southern bluefin tuna lead an oceanic, pelagic existence (Ref. 6390). Spawning fish and larvae are encountered in waters with surface temperatures between 20° and 30°C. An opportunistic feeder, preying on a wide variety of fishes, crustaceans, cephalopods, salps, and other marine animals. Mostly canned (Ref. 9684). A specialized fishery for sashimi-quality has been developed recently by New Zealand fishers. In Japan, it is highly prized for the sashimi markets.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

It is not known whether all mature fish spawn each year, every few years, or even only once in their lifetime (Ref. 30320).

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. (Ref. 168)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Endangered (EN) (A1bd); Date assessed: 15 January 2021

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes

FAO(Aquaculture: production; Fisheries: production, species profile; publication : search) | FIRMS (Stock assessments) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

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

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 2.5 - 7.9, mean 5 (based on 439 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5039 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01288 (0.01067 - 0.01556), b=3.03 (2.99 - 3.07), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.9 ±0.53 se; based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.14-0.15; tm=8-9; tmax=20; Fec=14 million).

Prior r = 0.27, 95% CL = 0.18 - 0.41, Based on 1 stock assessment.

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): High to very high vulnerability (67 of 100).

Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649): Moderate vulnerability (38 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Very high.

Thunnus maccoyii (Castelnau, 1872)