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) the summer of 1988 and the crew prepared for a UNITAS cruise to South America. "Skipjack" left in September and visited the Naval Base in Puerto Rico; Caracas, Venezuela (anchored out); Cartagena, Colombia and then transited the Panama Canal. While at a Naval Base on the Pacific side, one motor-generator suffered an unrepairable casualty. "Skipjack" left UNITAS, re-transited the canal and headed to Groton, where she entered dry-dock for repairs. "Skipjack"'s authorization to dive expired in March 1989 since it was not cost efficient to inspect the hull in 1987 for a ship scheduled to be decommissioned. She had just