United States (contiguous states) country information

Common names: Ahi, Bluefin tuna, Pacific bluefin tuna
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: commercial | Ref: Hart, J.L., 1973
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: gamefish: yes;
Comments: Occurs on the Pacific coast. Rare north of Point Conception, California. Important commercial and game fish in California (Ref. 6885).
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Collette, B.B. and C.E. Nauen, 1983
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Thon bleu du Pacifique, Atún aleta azul del Pacífico, تونة أجنحة زرقاء للمحيط الهادئ, ... 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 authors: Temminck & Schlegel.

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

Marine; brackish; pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 1 - 550 m (Ref. 58302). Subtropical; 61°N - 52°S, 99°E - 70°W

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

North Pacific: Gulf of Alaska to southern California and Baja California and from Sakhalin Island in the southern Sea of Okhotsk south to northern Philippines. There are four substantiated records of this subspecies in the southern hemisphere: off Western Australia, southeast Pacific (37°11'S, 114°41'W) and Gulf of Papua (Ref. 10997). The species occurs mainly in the northern Pacific but ventures into New Zealand waters for at least three months during spring and early summer (Ref. 83312).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 300 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9340); common length : 200 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9340); max. published weight: 450.0 kg (Ref. 47525); max. reported age: 15 years (Ref. 83312)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Mean number of gill rakers 35.9. First ventrally directed parapophysis on vertebra number 8. Dorsal wall of body cavity has a narrow bulge with lateral concavity and wide lateral trough. Caudal keels dark.

Epipelagic, usually oceanic, but seasonally coming close to shore (Ref. 168). Tolerates ample temperature intervals (Ref. 168). Forms schools by size, sometimes with other scombrids (Ref. 168). Migrates between June and September in a northward direction along the coast of Baja California, Mexico and California (Ref. 168). A voracious predator that feeds on a wide variety of small schooling fishes and squids, also on crabs crabs and to a lesser degree on sessile organisms (Ref. 168). Marketed fresh and frozen.

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., 1995. Scombridae. Atunes, bacoretas, bonitos, caballas, estorninos, melva, etc. p. 1521-1543. In W. Fischer, F. Krupp, W. Schneider, C. Sommer, K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) Guia FAO para Identification de Especies para lo Fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. 3 Vols. FAO, Rome. (Ref. 9340)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Near Threatened (NT) (A2bd); Date assessed: 15 January 2021

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes

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

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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 13.9 - 28.1, mean 24.3 (based on 983 cells).

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

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01380 (0.00638 - 0.02986), b=3.03 (2.86 - 3.20), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 4.5 ±0.3 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tm=3-5; tmax=15; K=0.1-0.2).

Prior r = 0.25, 95% CL = 0.17 - 0.38, Based on 3 full stock assessments.

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Very high vulnerability (76 of 100).

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

Price category (Ref. 80766): Very high.

Thunnus orientalis (Temminck & Schlegel, 1844)