Tuna | |
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Tunas (from top): albacore, Atlantic bluefin, skipjack, yellowfin, bigeye | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Scombriformes |
Family: | Scombridae |
Subfamily: | Scombrinae |
Tribe: | Thunnini Starks, 1910 |
Genera | |
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A tuna (pl.: tunas or tuna) is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera,[2] the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: 50 cm or 1.6 ft, weight: 1.8 kg or 4 lb) up to the Atlantic bluefin tuna (max length: 4.6 m or 15 ft, weight: 684 kg or 1,508 lb), which averages 2 m (6.6 ft) and is believed to live up to 50 years.
Tuna, opah and mackerel sharks are the only species of fish that can maintain a body temperature higher than that of the surrounding water. An active and agile predator, the tuna has a sleek, streamlined body, and is among the fastest-swimming pelagic fish – the yellowfin tuna, for example, is capable of speeds of up to 75 km/h (47 mph).[3][4] Greatly inflated speeds can be found in early scientific reports and are still widely reported in the popular literature.[4]
Found in warm seas, the tuna is commercially fished extensively as a food fish, and is popular as a bluewater game fish. As a result of overfishing, some tuna species, such as the southern bluefin tuna, are threatened with extinction.[5]
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Commercial fish |
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Large predatory |
Forage |
Demersal |
Mixed |
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