Frigate tuna

Taxobox
name = Frigate tuna


image_caption = Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
status = LC
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Perciformes
familia = Scombridae
subfamilia = Scombrinae
genus = "Auxis"
subspecies = "A. thazard thazard"
trinomial = "Auxis thazard thazard"
trinomial_authority = (Lacepède, 1800)

The frigate tuna or frigate mackerel, "Auxis thazard thazard", is a subspecies of tuna, in the family Scombridae, found circumglobally in tropical oceans in open surface waters to depths of 50 m (164 ft). Its length is between 30 and 65 cm (12 and 26 in).

The frigate tuna is a comparatively small and slender tuna. It has a triangular first dorsal fin, widely separated from the second dorsal fin, which, like the anal and pectoral fins, is relatively small. There are the usual finlets of the tuna. There is a small corselet of small scales around the pectoral region of the body.

Frigate tunas are blue-black on the back with a pattern of zig-zag dark markings on the upper hind body, and silver-white below. The fins are dark grey.

They feed on small fish, squid, planktonic crustaceans, and stomatopod larvae.

References

*
* Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, "Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand", (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8
* IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. . Downloaded on 28 September 2007.