Skipjack tuna

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Skipjack tuna
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Perciformes Family: Scombridae Genus: Katsuwonus Kishinouye, 1915 Species: K. pelamis
Binomial name
Katsuwonus pelamis (Linnaeus, 1758)

The skipjack tuna, Katsuwonus pelamis, is a medium-sized perciform fish in the tuna family, Scombridae. It is otherwise known as the aku, arctic bonito, mushmouth, oceanic bonito, striped tuna, or victor fish. It grows up to 1 m in length.

It is a streamlined, fast-swimming pelagic fish, common in tropical waters throughout the world, where it inhabits surface waters in large shoals (up to 50,000 fish), feeding on fish, crustaceans, cephalopods and mollusks. It is an important prey species for large pelagic fishes and sharks.

It is an important commercial and game fish, usually caught using purse seine nets, and is sold fresh, frozen, canned, dried, salted, and smoked.

In Japanese cuisine, skipjack tuna is known as katsuo, and is commonly smoked and dried to make katsuobushi, an important ingredient in making dashi (fish stock).

Shoal of skipjack tuna.

[edit] References

• Katsuwonus pelamis (TSN 172401). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 24 January 2006.
• "Katsuwonus pelamis". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. 10 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.
• Clover, Charles. 2004. The End of the Line: How overfishing is changing the world and what we eat. Ebury Press, London. ISBN 0-09-189780-7