Atlantic Bonita

ATLANTIC BONITA - Sarda sarda Family Scombridae, MACKERELS AND TUNAS

Description: Atlantic Bonito are identified by their color, the conspicuously wavy lateral line, 16 to 22 gill rakers on the first arch, and the three lateral keels on the caudal peduncle. The species has a steel-blue back and upper sides punctuated by 5 to 11 dark, slightly oblique stripes that run forward and downward. The lower sides are silver. The skipjack tuna, Euthynnus pelamis, is also striped, but the markings are along the lower sides and belly.
Size: Atlantic bonito grow up to 75 cm (30 in) and weighs 5-6 kg (10 to 12 pounds) at this size.
Where Found: NEARSHORE and OFFSHORE, common offshore, but also occurs regularly in bays and over reefs.
Feeding Habits: As soon as the young bonito are able to feed, they waste no time in searching for prey. The species has been described as an insatiable predator that feeds throughout the day, but probably most frequently at dawn and dusk. Larvae feed on other fish larvae, but prefer copepods; juveniles also consume larvae. Adults eat larger fish such as mackerels, anchovies, alewives, menhaden, and silversides as well as squids and shrimps.
Remarks: It is a strong swimmer. Normally it travels in fairly large schools and is common offshore. It is often captured by fishermen when trolling for bigger game. Thought by most fishermen to be inferior to tuna as a food fish, possibly because of the greater oiliness. Some of it, nonetheless, is canned. It can be cut by fishermen and used as bait.