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) On the journey, she passed so close to the Soviet port that the officers could look through a periscope and see the port only 30 or 40 yards (27 to 37 meters) away. Upon entering the canal, crewmen saw one of "Skipjack"s officers turn off a tracing mechanism so that there would be no written record of the action. Upon returning from this mission, "Skipjack" spent the remainder of 1960 in a restricted yard availability and upkeep. "Skipjack" commenced her 1961 operations by participating in two weeks of type training followed by anti-submarine warfare exercises through August, visiting Mayport, Florida,