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Yellowfin Tuna — printable fact sheet
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Yellowfin Tuna
Thunnus albacares
The yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) is a warm-water tuna reaching 2 metres and over 180 kilograms, named for the long, bright yellow second dorsal and anal fins, which in old fish grow into extravagant sickles trailing back toward the tail. Like other tunas it is regionally e…
Did you know?
- Unlike most fish, yellowfin tuna are warm-blooded, allowing them to maintain a higher body temperature and be more active predators.
- Yellowfin keep their muscles warmer than the sea, but far less so than bluefin, which is why they stay in the tropics while bluefin can hunt in cold northern water. They must swim constantly with the mouth open to breathe, and will suffocate if held still. Their habit of swimming beneath dolphin schools in the eastern Pacific is what created the dolphin bycatch crisis and, in response, the dolphin-safe label. The long yellow sickle fins are a mark of age, and only large old fish grow them fully.
What I learned
Draw the yellowfin tuna
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