Thonine
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Thonine ( Euthynnus alletteratus ) |
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| Euthynnus alletteratus | ||||||||||||
| ( Rafinesque , 1810) |
The thonine ( Euthynnus alletteratus ) or small tuna is a schooling fish that weighs up to 1.20 meters and weighs 16 kilograms.
distribution
The Thonine lives in the subtropical and tropical Atlantic near the coasts. In the Eastern Atlantic, their distribution area extends from the coast of the Iberian Peninsula to Angola . It also lives in the Mediterranean Sea and in the Central Atlantic near the Azores . It lives in the western Atlantic from the coast of North Carolina to Brazil , in the Caribbean and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico .
features
It is usually about 80 cm long and has the typical 7 to 8 flippers between the dorsal or anal fin and the caudal fin. Characteristic for the species is the striped back and the 3 to 7 dark spots between the pectoral and pelvic fins. The first rays of the first dorsal fin are much higher than the following ones, so the fin has a concave shape. The distance between the first and second dorsal fin is small. The region behind the head and around the pectoral and pelvic fins is covered by a corset made of large, thick scales. The rest of the body, with the exception of the sideline , is bare. The number of vertebrae is 39. A swim bladder is missing.
- Fin formula : dorsal XV – XVI / 11–13, anal 0 / 11–15.
Way of life
The Thonine lives in schools near the coast and feeds on small schooling fish, especially herring , but also on crustaceans , cephalopods , pelagic snails and tunicates . Eggs and larvae are pelagic .
use
The thonine is not a major edible fish and is more of an accidental bycatch .
literature
- Bent J. Muus, Jørgen G. Nielsen: The marine fish of Europe in the North Sea, Baltic Sea and Atlantic. Kosmos, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-440-07804-3 .
Web links
- Thonine on Fishbase.org (English)
- Euthynnus alletteratus onthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Collette, B., Amorim, AF, Boustany, A., Carpenter, KE, de Oliveira Leite Jr., N., Di Natale, A., Fox, W., Fredou, FL, Graves, J., Viera Hazin, FH, Juan Jorda, M., Kada, O., Minte Vera, C., Miyabe, N., Nelson, R., Oxenford, H., Teixeira Lessa, RP & Pires Ferreira Travassos, PE, 2010. Retrieved September 16, 2013.