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) coast of Timor which she reconnoitered and photographed. She also severely damaged an enemy oiler. The submarine returned to Fremantle for refit on 4 September. "Skipjack"’s fifth war patrol was conducted off Timor Island, Amboina, and Halmahera. On 14 October, while patrolling south of the Palau Islands, the submarine torpedoed and sank the 6,781-ton cargo ship, "Shunko Maru" (). Following a depth charge attack by a Japanese destroyer, the submarine returned to Pearl Harbor on 26 November. "Skipjack"’s sixth, seventh, and eighth war patrols were unproductive. But, during her ninth, conducted in the Caroline Islands and Mariana Islands areas, she