Texas Gulf Coast Fishing

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna

ATLANTIC BLUEFIN TUNA - Thunnus thynnus Family Scombridae, MACKERELS AND TUNAS

The Atlantic Bluefin Tuna has been highly prized as a food fish. Besides their commercial value as food, their great size and the speed and power they display as apex predators has attracted the admiration and respect of both ancient and modern fishermen, as well as writers, sport anglers and scientists.

Description: Atlantic bluefins are dark blue to black on their dorsal (upper) surface and silvery ventrally (underneath). The bluefin is known for their finlets that run down their dorsal and ventral sides toward their anal fin. There are 12-14 spines in their first dorsal fin and 13-15 rays in their second dorsal fin. Their anal fin has 11-15 rays. The average lifespan of bluefin tunas is 15-30 years.
Size: to 6-8 ft. long and 800 lbs.
Where found: Atlantic bluefin live in subtropical and temperate waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean, and Black Seas. Bluefin are highly migratory and limited numbers of individuals may cross the Atlantic in as little as 60 days and are widely distributed throughout the Atlantic and can be found from Newfoundland all the way to the coast of Brazil. They range in the eastern Atlantic as far north as Norway and down to northern West Africa. Bluefin tagged in the Bahamas have been captured in Norway as well as off the coast of Brazil. Although Atlantic bluefin are widely distributed and migrate thousands of kilometers, there are two confirmed spawning locations — the Gulf of Mexico in the western Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea in the eastern Atlantic. Although many ecological and environmental variables undoubtedly affect both the location and productivity of spawning in these two areas, relatively little is known concerning why bluefin spawn where they do. The bluefin is a pelagic, schooling fish. They tend to group together according to size.