Bigeye tuna
Thunnus obesus
Valid name.
- English
- Bigeye tuna
- Scientific
- Thunnus obesus
- Dhivehi
- ލޯބޮޑު ކަންނެލިLoabodu kanneli
- Maximum size
- Up to about 2.5 m and 210 kg
- Depth and habitat
- Open ocean, from the surface to about 500 m (deeper by day)
- IUCN status
- VU · VulnerableVulnerable (VU), assessed 2021
Description
A plump tuna with a large eye, a dark metallic blue back, a lighter iridescent blue band along the side, and yellow finlets edged in black. It feeds deeper than other tropical tunas, diving below 300 m by day and rising towards the surface at night. Juveniles school with skipjack and yellowfin near the surface. It is under pressure across the Indian Ocean, mainly from purse-seine catches of juveniles.
In the Maldives
Caught in smaller numbers than skipjack and yellowfin in the Maldives, mainly as juveniles mixed into pole-and-line catches and in longline/handline catches offshore.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Thunnus-obesus.html
- fao.org /4/AD471E/AD471E00.htm
- dv.wikipedia.org /wiki/ލޯބޮޑު_ކަންނެލި
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Thunnus_obesus_(bigeye_tuna).jpg
Dhivehi name source: M.R.S. (1997) Fishes of the Maldives, Marine Research Section, Malé (FAO/BOBP MAG/21); Thaana from Dhivehi Wikipedia (fish articles derived from the MRS 1997 Dhivehi edition). The name means 'big-eyed yellowfin'.