Skipjack tuna important prey species for sharks and large pelagic fishes and is often used as live bait when fishing for Marlin. It has no scales, except on the lateral line and the corselet (a band of large, thick scales forming a circle around the body behind the head). It commonly reaches fork lengths up to and a weight of . Its maximum fork length is and maximum weight is . Ageing skipjack tuna is difficult, and the estimates of its potential lifespan range between 8 and 12 years. Skipjack tuna is a batch spawner. Spawning occurs year-round in equatorial waters, but
HMS Skipjack (1808) after having lost her master, Birt Dynely, her mate, and four seamen killed, and two men wounded. "Confiance" took "Duke of Montrose" into Guadeloupe. On 23 August 1808 captured the French privateer schooner "Confiance", of seven guns (though pierced for 16) and 70 men. She was three days out from Cayenne. The Royal Navy took "Confiance" into service as "Skipjack". Lieutenant Thompson commissioned "Skipjack" later that year. In January -February 1810, "Skipjack" participated in the capture of Guadeloupe, which earned for her crew the clasp "Guadaloupe" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty issued in 1847 to all