South Africa country information

Common names: Atlantic bonito, Atlantiese bonito, Katonkel
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Commonly found in schools between Cape Point and Mossel Bay during the summer; extending to Port Alfred and possibly as far as Durban. Also Ref. 168.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/sf.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Collette, B.B., 1986
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Bonite à dos rayé, Bonito del Atlántico, Пеламида атлантическая, ... 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: Sarda: Latin and Greek, sarda = sardine; name related to the island of Sardinia (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Bloch.

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

Marine; brackish; pelagic-neritic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 80 - 200 m (Ref. 5377). Subtropical; 12°C - 27°C (Ref. 168); 62°N - 40°S, 98°W - 42°E (Ref. 54865)

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

Eastern Atlantic: Oslo, Norway to Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Also known from the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Western Atlantic: Nova Scotia, Canada to Florida, USA and northern Gulf of Mexico; then from Colombia, Venezuela, and south of the Amazon River to northern Argentina; apparently absent from most of the Caribbean Sea.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m 37.8, range 41 - ? cm
Max length : 91.4 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 168); common length : 50.0 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 168); max. published weight: 11.0 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 5 years (Ref. 29114)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 20 - 23; Dorsal soft rays (total): 15 - 18; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 14 - 17; Vertebrae: 50 - 55. Mouth moderately large. Laminae of olfactory rosette 21-39. Interpelvic process small and bifid. Body completely covered with very small scales posterior to the corselet. Swim bladder absent. Spleen large. Liver with elongate left and right lobe and short middle lobe. Oblique dorsal stripes with a greater angle than in other species of Sarda.

Epipelagic, neritic and schooling species that may enter estuaries. Known to be cannibalistic, adults prey on small schooling fishes, invertebrates like squid and shrimps and can swallow relatively large prey. Eggs and larvae pelagic (Ref. 6769). Utilized fresh, dried or salted, smoked, canned and frozen (Ref. 9987). Able to adapt to different temperatures 12° to 27°C and salinities 14 to 39 (Ref. 36731).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

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)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 15 November 2021

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 30303)

Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; gamefish: yes

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

More information

Trophic ecology
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Ecology
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Population dynamics
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Life cycle
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Distribution
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Anatomy
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Physiology
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Visual pigment(s)
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Toxicities (LC50s)

Genetics
Genetics
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Stamps, coins, misc.

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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): 7 - 23.4, mean 10.7 (based on 346 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5312 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00871 (0.00764 - 0.00993), b=3.06 (3.02 - 3.10), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 4.5 ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.13-0.24; tm=1; tmax=5).

Prior r = 0.57, 95% CL = 0.37 - 0.85, Based on 9 data-limited stock assessments.

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low to moderate vulnerability (33 of 100).

Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649): Moderate to high vulnerability (48 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): High.

Sarda sarda (Bloch, 1793)