Yellowfin Tuna
Thunnus albacares
The yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) is a tuna that inhabits the open waters of tropical and subtropical oceans around the world.
Family
Scombridae
Avg Size
150-200 cm
Habitat
Yellowfin tuna are epipelagic, living in the warm surface layer of the ocean above the thermocline. Acoustic tracking shows that, unlike the related bigeye tuna, they mostly stay within the top 100 m (330 ft) of the water column, although their depth shifts with the time of day: one study found 90% of recorded depths were shallower than 88 m (289 ft) at night and shallower than 190 m (620 ft) by day. They cross the thermocline only occasionally but are capable of diving to considerable depths.
Behaviour
Although yellowfin tuna mostly live in deep offshore water, they can move closer to land where conditions suit them. Mid-ocean islands such as the Hawaiian chain, other Western Pacific groups, sites in the Caribbean and Red Sea, Indonesia, the Maldives and the volcanic Atlantic islands of Ascension and Saint Helena often attract them to feed on baitfish that concentrate near shore. They may also venture well inside the continental shelf when temperature, water clarity and food supply are favourable, and they commonly travel in schools made up of similarly sized fish.
