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 (SS-184) and overhaul. After returning to Pearl Harbor, "Skipjack" got underway for her tenth and final war patrol, conducted in the Kuril Islands area. During this patrol, she damaged an enemy auxiliary and attacked a Japanese destroyer without success. On 11 December, she returned to Midway Island and then continued on to Ulithi. She then sailed to Pearl Harbor for refit; and got underway on 1 June 1945 for New London, Connecticut, and duty training submarine school students. "Skipjack" was later sunk as a target vessel in the second atomic bomb test at Bikini Atoll in July 1946 and was later