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Little tunas still pack lots of power

By Staff | Sep 12, 2019


The little tunas, as their name suggests, do not grow to a huge size, but what they lack in pounds, they more than make up for in power. Just seeing a school of skipjack hurtle through the water, like so many mini-torpedoes, is enough to make one realize the incredible power of these pocket rockets. On matched tackle, they seem possessed of strength far beyond their size.


The second feature of internal biology of the skipjack which relates to its energy and metabolic rate is that it is the most warm-blooded of any fish that swims. We always tend to think of fish as being cold-blooded, and it is true that the vast majority have no control over their internal temperatures, being at the mercy of ambient water temperatures. However, some of the highly-advanced pelagic fishes have evolved a form of heat regulation – notably the billfishes, some sharks (such as mako) and tunas.



The skipjack is one of the most widely distributed of all pelagic fishes. Its range extends at least between the latitudes of 40-degrees North and South in all three major oceans.

The widespread distribution is primarily due to the skipjack’s broad thermal tolerance, from less than 15 degrees to over 30 degrees centigrade. It has long been known that skipjack concentrate at convergences of water masses.

The growth rates of skipjack are not known with certainty. The best guesstimates – which are based on tag recapture data and examination of growth bands – are that skipjack live for perhaps only four years, reaching a spawning size by their second year of age.

The maximum size of skipjack is quoted in scientific literature as 108-centimeter fork length (3’6”), which would weigh around 72 pounds. The Hawaii state record is 40 pounds, 8 ounces.


The numbers of eggs spawned each day by a single female skipjack range between about 100,000 and 2,000,000, which considering the sheer biomass of skipjack in the tropical oceans, is a mind-boggling concept. Is it any wonder that this little tuna has been dubbed “the cockroach of the sea?”