Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Perciformes
(Perch-likes) > Scombridae
(Mackerels, tunas, bonitos) > Scombrinae
Etymology: Thunnus: Greek, thynnos = tunna (Ref. 45335).
Environment / Climate / Range
Marine; pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 50 - ? m. Tropical; 20°C - ? (Ref. 168); 43°N - 28°S, 100°W - 26°W (Ref. 55290)
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 49.4  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 108 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); common length : 72.0 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 168); max. published weight: 20.6 kg (Ref. 40637)
Western Atlantic: off Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts south to Trinidad Island and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Ref. 168); including south of Brazil (Ref. 36453). Highly migratory species, Annex I of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea (Ref. 26139).
Found in oceanic waters, sometimes not far from the coast (Ref. 13628). Forms large mixed schools with the skipjack tuna. Its spawning grounds are located well offshore. Preys on surface and deep-sea fishes, squids, amphipods, shrimps, crabs and stomatopods and decapod larvae. The largest fishery for blackfin tuna operates off the southeastern coast of Cuba and uses live-bait and pole. Utilized fresh, dried or salted, canned and frozen (Ref. 9987).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
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. 96402)
CITES (Ref. 94142)
Threat to humans
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes
Estimates of some properties based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805
= 0.5039 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01259 (0.00973 - 0.01629), b=3.02 (2.98 - 3.06), based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278
): 4.4 ±0.3 se; Based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 69278
): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.22; tm=3; tmax=5).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153
): Moderate vulnerability (41 of 100) .