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
USS Skipjack (SSN-585) Night" from 15 September to 9 October. On 22 October, "Skipjack" returned to Norfolk, where she remained through January 1972. "Skipjack" spent most of 1972 in tests and type training out of Groton, CT and Norfolk, VA as well as the Caribbean. The submarine returned to Norfolk in late 1972. Toward the end of spring in 1973, "Skipjack" returned to the Mediterranean Sea and conducted several exercises with the Sixth Fleet. During that time "Skipjack" was home ported at La Maddalena on the NE corner of Sardinia. Returning to Norfolk in September "Skipjack" crossed paths with Hurricane Ellen during the