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
Skipjack shad they are nearly extirpated, fish passage features such as ladders or lifts will be required on Mississippi River lock and dams." In Minnesota, the construction of a fish passage facility is being considered at U.S. Lock and Dam 3 near Red Wing and could help skipjack shad migration in the Mississippi River drainage. The Minnesota DNR Division of Ecological Services received a State Wildlife Grant to conduct surveys for rare fish species in the Mississippi River from the Twin Cities to the Iowa border. These surveys were conducted from 2006 to 2008, and while the skipjack shad was a targeted