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
Skipjack shad is necessary to keep turbidity and siltation levels down, as this species will only live in waters that are clear to moderately turbid. Sampling of skipjack shad has been performed through the use of gillnetting and electro fishing. These methods are best utilized beneath impoundments over sand or gravel substrates around spawning time each spring, where they are most abundant. Sampling should be done across the entire native range to document its abundance in different locations and human induced changes. For now, skipjack shad have a stable abundance in the southern part of its distribution, and need more management plans