Southern Bluefin Tuna
Overview
Common Name: Southern bluefin tuna
Scientific Name: Thunnus maccoyii
Habitat: Open ocean
Location: Southern Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans (mainly between 30 and 50 degrees south)
Conservation Status: Overfished
Physical Description
Southern bluefin tuna can live up to 40 years; weigh over 200kg; and grow over two meters. Bluefin tuna are built like torpedoes. Not only do they have a hydrodynamic shape, their pectoral (side) fins can be retracted.
Unlike other fish, their eyes are set flush to their body. This means their bodies create little drag as they swim through water. A warm body temperature also helps these fish swim fast, as does a stiff body that channels muscle energy directly to a highly efficient, crescent-shaped tail.
Bluefin tuna must literally swim for their life. Their rigid head helps them to swim fast, but doesn’t allow them to pump water over their gills like some other fish. Instead, water is forced over their gills as they swim with their mouths open. But this means they need to keep swimming - like some sharks. If they stop, they will suffocate.
Southern bluefin tuna are opportunistic feeders whose diet can include smaller fish, crustaceans, molluscs, and other marine life.
© Brandon D. Cole / WWF-US
Habitat and Distribution
Southern bluefin tuna are found throughout the southern Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans – generally south of 30 degrees south, though they do head north to the warm waters south of Java to spawn between September and April.
Diet
Southern bluefin tuna are opportunistic feeders whose diet can include smaller fish, crustaceans, molluscs, and other marine life.
Reproduction
All southern bluefin tuna return to the warm waters south of Java in the Indian Ocean to spawn between September and April of each year. They can reach reproductive maturity around age 8, and grow up to 1.5 meters. In April 2009, Australian scientists announced the successful spawning of captive southern bluefin tuna.
Threats
Threats to this species include overfishing and massive ranching operations in Australia
Policy
Southern bluefin tuna are managed by the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna. Significant under-reporting of this tuna catch was discovered in 2006 and has compromised the data used to set sustainable catch limits.
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