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
USS Skipjack (SSN-585) the summer of 1988 and the crew prepared for a UNITAS cruise to South America. "Skipjack" left in September and visited the Naval Base in Puerto Rico; Caracas, Venezuela (anchored out); Cartagena, Colombia and then transited the Panama Canal. While at a Naval Base on the Pacific side, one motor-generator suffered an unrepairable casualty. "Skipjack" left UNITAS, re-transited the canal and headed to Groton, where she entered dry-dock for repairs. "Skipjack"'s authorization to dive expired in March 1989 since it was not cost efficient to inspect the hull in 1987 for a ship scheduled to be decommissioned. She had just