Skipjack tuna Skipjack tuna The skipjack tuna ("Katsuwonus pelamis") is a medium-sized perciform fish in the tuna family, Scombridae. It is otherwise known as the aku, arctic bonito, mushmouth, oceanic bonito, striped tuna, or victor fish. It grows up to 1 m (3 ft) in length. It is a cosmopolitan pelagic fish found in tropical and warm-temperate waters. It is a very important species for fisheries. It is a streamlined, fast-swimming pelagic fish, common in tropical waters throughout the world, where it inhabits surface waters in large shoals (up to 50,000 fish), feeding on fish, crustaceans, cephalopods, and molluscs. It is an
Skipjack shad was much more abundant in the Upper Mississippi River basin before it was impounded. Currently, the skipjack shad is most abundant in the Upper Mississippi River below the mouth of the Ohio River. They are known as an "early-run" species as they migrate to spawn in the early spring. The skipjack shad is restricted to the Gulf of Mexico and its drainage, in the United States. The Gulf of Mexico drainage includes the ACF (Apalachicola/Chattahoochee/Flint River) basin, the Mississippi basin, and the Rio Grande basin. Records indicate that this species was more abundant in the upper Mississippi River before it